The Adventures of Abigail Hamilton
by Dida Mac
Summary: Set 20 years after the events of Alice. Hatter has been missing for 18 years and all attempts to find him have failed. The Looking Glass has been moved and Alice has had no way back to Wonderland. She's ended up raising the daughter that Hatter doesn't even know about by herself.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Abby

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><p>"Tell me about daddy." The three year old begged Alice as she was trying to lay her down to sleep. It seemed like a bedtime story to the little girl. Alice sighed, she knew that the girl just wanted to know about the man that she saw in pictures around the house, but she was tired after a long day at work.<p>

She smiled, though. "Your daddy is one of the bravest men I know. He and I met when I followed a friend of mine into a strange world…"

"Wonderland?" the girl excitedly cut in.

"Yes, Wonderland." Alice said, she'd told her daughter this story many times. "Mommy's friend was also from Wonderland and some very bad men had come to take him back. I wanted to save him and followed him through the Looking Glass. I was caught…"

"By the White Rabbit?" the girl cut in again and Alice smiled and let out a small laugh.

"Yes, by the White Rabbit." She said. "I escaped though and I was brought to your father. He ran a tea shop, but he also smuggled supplies to the Resistance. They wanted to bring down the Queen of Hearts and rebuild Wonderland. They turned on your daddy, though, when he wouldn't let them hurt me. We ended up running from the suits that the Hearts sent after us and from the Resistance all while trying to save Jack. We managed to find a knight in the woods that helped us.

"Your daddy was concerned for me, though, and insisted that I should just leave Jack because he was sure that I would be trapped in Wonderland if I didn't and he wanted to get me home safely. I couldn't just leave Jack behind, though, so I went off on my own and got caught by the Queen's suits. I was being interrogated when your daddy and the knight saved me and we flew away from the Hearts. While I had been with the Hearts, though, I'd found out that Grandpa was there in Wonderland.

"I hadn't seen him for 10 years and wanted to save him, no longer fearing for Jack because I had just found out that he was from Wonderland during my brief captivity. Your daddy risked his neck to reach out to the Resistance so that we might get Grandpa out. Then, when mommy was going to see Grandpa, she was captured again. Your daddy tried to save her, but was caught himself. I thought he would die.

"Both of us escaped, though, and found each other. We brought down the Queen of Hearts and saved Wonderland. We said goodbye at the Looking Glass before I was sent home. I wasn't even sure if Wonderland was real until Grandma told me that David was at our apartment for dinner and that he was the one who found me. I went out into the dining room and saw him standing there, your daddy.

"He stayed here, in New York, for two years. Then he disappeared. I didn't even know about you until a week later. I tried to find him, thinking that he might have gone back to Wonderland, but I couldn't find the Looking Glass. It had been moved. I know that he's still out there, though, and that he'll find his way back one of these days." Alice concluded to her now sleeping three year old. She gave the girl a kiss on the forehead and walked slowly to the door.

She turned to look at the girl as she turned off the light. "Good night, Abby" she said just before she closed the door. Alice walked down the hall to her room and laid down on her bed, wishing that Hatter would come back soon. She wished that she could at least know what had happened to him. Despite it having been nearly four years since he disappeared, she could just feel that he was alive and that he wasn't gone by his choice.

-Fourteen Years Later-

Abby tapped her pencil while listening to a lecture from her English teacher. She had never really appreciated school, but this year was the worst. She was about to graduate a year early. All she needed was to pass this class and she was as good as gone. She just wanted to go off to college and get her life underway. All her mother ever seemed to do was talk about Wonderland anymore. She didn't know why because Abby had stopped believing that nonsense when she was 10.

She didn't believe that her father was the mad Hatter or that her mother had gone to Wonderland. She did believe that her father had probably run off as soon as he figured out that Alice was pregnant, even though her mother insisted that he didn't know when he left. Abby just figured that she'd messed the dates around or something. As it was, Abby was always reminded on September 2nd that that was when her father went missing.

From what she could tell, she had inherited some of his looks and definitely his hair. She had his eyes and his nose, but the shape of her face was very much so like her mother's. Finally, the bell rang. Her last class of the day was done. Abby nearly jumped out of the desk as she slung her bag over her shoulder and carried her books out of the room. She stuffed her books in her bag as she was walking through the halls on her way out of school.

She didn't have a car. She didn't even have a license. She either walked or biked wherever she wanted to go. When it came to school, she walked. It was on her way home that she started feeling like something was strange. She looked around, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. There were some other students around and a couple of businessmen across the street. Nothing seemed unusual, so she just kept walking.

She got to the apartment that she and her mother lived in within a half an hour. For the entire walk, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed. She locked the door behind her, dumped her bag on the couch and then rummaged through the cupboards for something to eat. She knew that her mother taught classes for another few hours. She had grabbed some crackers and was about to get on her computer when she heard a knock on the door.

Setting the crackers on the counter, she walked over to the door and peeked through the peep hole. She didn't recognize the man on the other side of the door. "Sorry, we're not interested in buying anything." She said rather loudly.

"I'm not selling anything…I'm looking for an Alice Hamilton." The man said. Abby thought that it was strange, so she still didn't open the door.

"Sorry, no one here by that name." she said. It was technically true. "I think she might work at the martial arts studio down the street, though. You might try there." She added.

"Are you sure she doesn't live here? This is the address that I was given for her." He replied.

In hind sight, Abby should have left the door closed and bolted, but she had a bit of an aggressive side. "Look, buddy" she said as she opened the door, "she's not here. Go aw…" she didn't have a chance to finish her sentence before a white smelly cloth was pushed in her face. Everything went black after that.

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><p>Reviews would be appreciated<p> 


	2. Chapter 1 - Welcome to Wonderland

Disclaimer: I own Abby and Cillian, but nothing else.

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><p>Abby's head was pounding. She refused to open her eyes because she just knew that doing so would hurt worse. She did groan, though. "Oh good, she's coming to." A voice with a mildly strange accent said. Finally, Abby opened her eyes. She bolted upright, immediately regretting the action, as she noticed that she did not recognize her surroundings. She was on a very plush bed in the middle of what looked like a room in a very modern-style apartment.<p>

"Where am I?" she asked.

"It's okay, you're fine. Look, don't worry about this, it's all a big misunderstanding." The blond man in the corner said to her. He really didn't look much older than she did.

"Really? What's the misunderstanding? The last thing I remember is some creep banging on my door, asking about my mother and now here I am." She said, getting angry, but not angry enough to stand up.

"Your mother? Alice Hamilton is your mother? Well, it didn't take her very long to move on." He replied.

"Move on?" Abby asked, still a little groggy.

"From the Hatter."

"That's my dad. At least, that's what mom's always told me. I know it's ridiculous, though." Abby replied.

"Well, he's never mentioned that before." The man replied.

"What?" Abby asked and then shook her head a little. "Look, who are you? Where am I?" she asked.

"Oh, forgive me, my name is Cillian, Cillian Heart. And this is Wonderland." The man replied to her question.

Abby gave a little laugh. "Wonderland doesn't exist. It's just a story." She said.

"Does this look like a story to you?" Cillian asked.

Abby shook her head again, much to the protest that it was giving her. "No, it looks like a modern-styled apartment in New York." She said, glancing around at the room. The walls looked like colored glass except what she assumed was the outer wall. That wall happened to be concrete.

"Well, perhaps if you see outside, you might think differently." Cillian said. "I really am sorry that you were brought here in such a…aggressive…manner. My father's confirmed that there was simply no way for you to have been Alice and the suit that brought you here has been dealt with." He added, taking a few steps toward her and reaching out as if he was going to help her up.

Abby shied away from him, not being too comfortable around the stranger. "Suit? Your father?" she asked.

"Oh, the suits are, what's the word, servants I guess you could say. They work for us. And my father is the King of Wonderland, Jack Heart." He said as Abby nodded again, the throbbing pain starting to go away slowly.

She stood up on the opposite side of the bed from where he was. "I will have to say, this is quite a nice room to wake up in when you've been kidnapped." She said snidely as she walked slowly over to a triangular window on the wall. There was a forest outside and she was very high up, probably on the tenth floor of the building or so. "What the hell? Okay, seriously, where am I? Where's the city?" she started to panic; now realizing that she was nowhere near her home.

"I told you, you're in Wonderland. Calm down, we'll fix this." Cillian said.

"Take me home, now!" Abby replied.

"We will just as soon as we can. First, we need to know if you can help us to find Alice. My father thinks that she might be able to help." He said, walking up behind her. Abby wasn't the kind of person to like someone coming up behind her; especially not when she was upset. She turned and struck him in the stomach with her hand open, she'd been taking martial arts lessons from her mother since she was a very small child.

Cillian didn't seem to have expected her to do that and he doubled over in a mixture of shock and a bit of pain. Abby immediately ran for the door, swinging it open and rushing into the hall. There, she saw a handful of men wearing some ridiculous costumes. It looked like they were trying to dress up as a deck of cards. She immediately put her hands up in a defensive position in case they might try to come at her, but they didn't move. That was also a problem, though, because they were blocking the hall.

"Please don't do that again. We're not going to hurt you. We just want to find Alice." Cillian said, having regained his composure and come to the doorway.

"Well, I'm not going to help you find her. And if what she said about her trip here is true, then it'll be at least a week here before she even gets home from work." Abby said, remembering how her mother would talk about the days that she spent in Wonderland, but when she returned home, she'd only been gone for an hour or so.

"Listen, have dinner with us. Let us explain what's happening, why we need your mother. After that, we will take you back to the Looking Glass and everything will be fine." Cillian replied. Abby sighed, putting her arms down when she realized that the suits weren't going to attack her.

"Fine, but you're taking me back right after dinner." She said before looking back at the suits, "You look ridiculous." She added before turning fully back to Cillian. "So, when is this dinner exactly?" she asked, simply wanting to leave as quickly as possible.

"It'll be ready in an hour." Cillian said. He seemed pleased with her change of heart. She stood there for a moment, waiting for him and the suits to walk off, but they didn't.

"So, I'm gonna just…walk around." She said, edging her way between a couple of the suits who moved out of her way. Cillian followed her. "…alone, please." She added.

"Wouldn't want you getting lost, would we?" Cillian asked.

"I'm sure that I can find my way." Abby replied. Really, she simply did not trust this whole thing and wanted to find an exit. She walked down the hall quickly with Cillian right behind her. "Really, I just need to wander around a little bit, clear my head. You know, get some fresh air and all that jazz." She said.

"I still wouldn't want you to get lost." Cillian simply replied.

Abby let out a frustrated sigh. She was sure that she could lose him somewhere. All she needed to find was a distraction. She smirked as she came upon a staircase. She hoped that her plan would work. She rushed down the stairs, not going too fast because she didn't want to actually fall. Near the last step before she got to the next floor down, she pretended to twist her ankle and sent herself crashing to the floor. "Ah," she groaned just for effect.

"Are you okay?" Cillian rushed to help her.

"My ankle, it hurts." She said. Cillian turned and waved his arm like a madman. Abby looked down the hall, confused, only to see more suits. She sighed, "It's fine…" she said, hauling herself up. "Doesn't need medical attention or anything, just hurts a bit." She added, wondering if there were going to be more of those ridiculous suits on every floor.

"Are you sure? That looked like a pretty bad fall." Cillian asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She said, already taking the next set of stairs down again. After three floors, there were no more stairs down from where she was, so she started down the hallway. "This place is huge." She remarked to her ever persistent shadow.

"You get used to it." He replied.

"Not likely…I'd bet that you guys even have one of those ridiculous hedge mazes." She said.

"We don't exactly have a hedge maze, but we do have gardens." Cillian offered.

"So…how much longer until dinner?" she asked.

"Well, it's only been about five minutes, so quite a while." Cillian said, to which Abby replied with a shout of frustration.

-One Hour Later-

"Look, I don't know what you want with me or my mother, but we can't help you. So, why don't you just send me back home and we can forget that this all happened." Abby said as soon as she got into the dining hall. She directed her comment at a man who was obviously Cillian's father, dressed in a bright red velvet suit.

"Please, sit." He said, indicating a chair near the head of the table. She glared at him, but sat down.

"Okay, sitting. Now, home please." She said.

"So, the suits tell me that you are Alice's daughter…with the Hatter." The King said.

"What's that got to do with anything? You do realize that this is kidnapping, don't you?" she asked.

"I was going to offer Alice a deal. I'm sure that she has the ability to save Wonderland from a new threat that we were facing. I was going to give her the Hatter for her service." King Jack replied.

"Wait, so you're telling me that he's here? Right now? Look, I'm no expert on Wonderland or anything, but you seriously have to be more convincing than that. I mean, he'd be really old by now if this really was Wonderland because doesn't time move really slowly here?" she asked. The King gave her a strange look. "My mother said that she was here for days, but that it was only an hour or so in New York." She said, still not quite believing that this was Wonderland, but going with the story just to appease these people.

"Oh" the King said with a laugh, "No, no. That was the mirror. We programmed it to send her back to shortly after when she came here. The time runs at the same rate between the worlds." He explained. Abby just shook her head.

"Look, let's just send me home, okay?" she asked.

"Dear child, can you just listen? Wonderland has a new threat. We are breaking out into a civil war. The people here, all of the people, look up to your mother. Our hope is that she could stop this imminent war from happening." The King said.

"And how, exactly, would she do that?" Abby asked.

"I think that you underestimate the magic that Wonderland possesses. Just her presence would calm the population." The King said.

"And your father would be returned to her in return for her coming here." Cillian added.

"About that, did you just kidnap him, too? Did you just decide to hold him ransom until trouble rose up?" she asked, not believing for a minute that her father was here.

"No, we arrested him. He broke our laws when he went to your world. As soon as I rose to power, I declared that no Wonderlander would be allowed to use the Looking Glass. Similarly, no Oysters were to remain in Wonderland." King Jack replied.

"Oysters?" Abby asked.

"People from your world." Cillian answered.

"So he's been, what? Sitting in your dungeons for the past 18 years?" Abby asked sarcastically.

"Yes." The King responded. Abby suddenly became very serious.

"Take me to him." She said.

"You haven't eaten any…" Cillian started.

"Take me to him." She repeated, interrupting the boy who, during her hour with him, had revealed that he was only one year older than she was.

"We'll have him brought up. Number ten, bring us the Hatter…and another place setting. I'm sure that he'd enjoy the meal." King Jack said, sending the suit rushing out of the room. "Now, then, let's get started." He said, indicating the food that was sitting in front of each of them. Abby wasn't hungry, her stomach was twisting into knots.

'_Get a hold of yourself, Abigail. You've never even met the man before. He doesn't even know you exist.'_ She thought, but now she wondered if he really hadn't left her mother. Maybe he had been kidnapped. She forced herself to eat a few bites of the food as she waited.

"What do you want now, Jack?! I told you, I've no idea where she'd be now!" a man shouted angrily as he entered the room. He was wearing a loud shirt, tan pants, and a tan hat. His hair was curling up over the rim of the hat. He didn't look like Abby imagined a prisoner would look like.

"Why don't you take a seat, Hatter. We have a guest." Jack said, motioning toward Abby.

Her father glanced at her quickly and then made to round on Jack again before stopping. "You're not Alice." He said, having thought for a moment that the suits had found her.

"No…I'm really not." Abby replied.

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><p>Please review.<p>

Kelleyj: Thank you for your review. Normally, I probably won't have chapters out this quickly. I will try to get at least one update out per week, though.


	3. Chapter 2 - Hatter's Help

Disclaimer: I own Abby and Cillian, but nothing else.

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><p>Hatter looked utterly confused. Abby imagined he was wondering how she could look so much like Alice without actually being Alice. The two just stared at each other, as if they were each waiting for the other to say something first. Abby didn't exactly know what to say. Her mother did always talk about his fondness for hats, but that wasn't exactly a conversation starter.<p>

"Who are you?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Abby, Abby Hamilton." She said. Her father looked like his heart was breaking. "I'm Alice's daughter." She added, the pained look on his face only worsened. Abby suddenly realized why. "And yours." She added, figuring that he looked so upset because he thought that Alice had moved on. She was right. His expression became confused for a moment and then full of wonder.

"When?" was all he asked.

"I'm 17 if that's what you're asking. She always said that you disappeared just before she found out about me." She replied. She didn't add that she'd always assumed that he'd ran after being told about her and that her mother simply didn't want her to feel unwanted. "So, they really did take you?" she asked.

Hatter nodded. "And now they want to use me as their shiny new bargaining chip." He said, his expression turning sour as he turned back to Jack. "Leave them both out of this. They deserve a normal life." He said, slamming his fist into the table. Food went flying everywhere as the table caved under Hatters fist. Abby's face showed her shock as she stared at the table. The King only sighed.

"If there was another way, Hatter, we would take it. Do not forget that you're not the only one who cares for Alice." He said.

"There's always another way. You just are too lazy to figure it out. Just like last time, all you want to do is bring Alice into the mix. She nearly died last time! You put her in danger then and you're trying to do it again." Hatter shouted angrily.

Jack sighed. "I didn't have a choice then and I don't now. She will be safe, Hatter. I am the King now. I would not let anything harm her.

"You are going to send Abby back right now and you are going to leave her and Alice out of this. Wonderland is dangerous and you know that. Don't get them involved." Hatter said, moving between Abby and Jack. "They belong in their world." He said.

"Your daughter is a part of this world, too, Hatter." Jack reminded him.

"Look, I'm not going to lead you to my mom. Neither is he. So, why don't you just figure out how to solve your problems on your own?" Abby asked, peeking around her father's slight frame.

"We could always just have you help. I'm sure that, being Alice's daughter, people might follow you, too." Cillian said.

"No, I'm not letting you drag her into this, Jack. Not you or your son. We both know who's behind this little rebellion and we both knew it would happen. If something were to happen to you, she wouldn't be safe. Send her back, I'll help you." Hatter said, obviously still angry, but trying to reason with the King.

"No one would follow you, Hatter. You're a conman and a smuggler. Neither of those are good qualities in a leader of any kind." Jack said.

"Wait, who is behind the rebellion? The civil war?" Abby asked.

"My grandmother…" Cillian grumbled.

"Wait, isn't she dead?" Abby asked. She had always assumed that when the Queen had been dethroned that she had been executed.

"No, she's alive and well. She had been in the dungeons, but some who were still loyal to her helped her to escape. She wants power again." Jack said. "She has a following of people who want to go back to how Wonderland was when the casino was still around."

"Casino?" Abby asked. Her mother had conveniently left out the bit about Oysters being drained of their emotions.

"They dragged people here from your world, drained their emotions, and then made the population dependent on them. It's just like a drug to us." Hatter answered her question. "And Alice has helped put your mother in her place enough. Don't drag her back here." His voice was still demanding, but his face was pleading with the King.

"You could have her back. The two of you could be together." Jack said.

"I don't care. I'd rather have her out of harm's way than with me. And that goes for Abby as well. Quit using her…them." Hatter said, still somewhat angry.

"Well, I really have no choice but to keep your daughter here, then. She might be able to win the people over." Jack said.

"I'm not going to do anything for you. You kidnapped me, remember?" Abby said. She wasn't going to be used. Hatter glanced back at her. He had to know that they weren't going to get through to Jack because the next thing he did was to take a swing at the King's face. Before anyone could recover from the confusion, he'd grabbed Abby's arm and had started for the door, yanking her out of her seat.

Abby caught on quite quickly, he was trying to escape. In the hall, there were three suits. Abby immediately went after one, hitting him in the stomach and then flipping him onto his back. She looked over and the other two were already crumpled to the floor. Hatter then rushed with her in tow to an elevator. The doors opened immediately, to their luck. Hatter pressed the button for the top floor.

"Up? Why up?" Abby asked, figuring that there wasn't exactly an exit from the roof.

"We don't really have a choice. There are more suits on the ground floor than on any other. They'll be alerted by now…looking to capture us." He said. The doors opened within a few moments and they rushed out onto a roof. There were two suits here and they both were unconscious in a matter of seconds. Abby looked around for an escape. "Hop on" Hatter said, already over by what looked like flamingos.

Abby cocked her head slightly to the side, but then she heard a commotion. More suits were on their way. She rushed to one of the flamingos and got on. "How do these work?" she asked.

"Push the button to go, push the neck forward to go down and backward to go up." Hatter said, obviously waiting for her to go first. Abby did not have her mother's fear of heights and pushed the button quickly. She was quite surprised by the speed of the flamingo and glanced around quickly, seeing that Hatter was right behind her. There were also a couple of suits tailing them. "Whatever happens, keep going." Hatter shouted at her as she heard a gunshot come from behind them.

"They're shooting at us?!" she shouted.

"Yeah, don't worry about that, just keep flying." Her father replied. "Don't let them catch you." He added, seeming further away than before. Abby glanced back at him. He was further away. She realized what he was doing when he turned. He was trying to lead the suits away from her, or at least split them up. His plan worked, well, sort of. One of the suits followed him while the other continued to chase her. She heard another gunshot and dove. She skimmed the tree tops on her flamingo, not daring to look back.

She heard more shots, but she didn't dare go down into the trees, instead, she headed back up into the sky. She could see a clearing again and heard more shots. Then her flamingo gave a jerk. "What?" she said, looking down. She saw black smoke coming out of her flamingo. "No no no no no no no…" she said quickly as she lost altitude at an alarming rate. Soon, she was skimming the tree tops again. Then she was in the trees. She managed to keep from hitting any major branches, but crashed very hard into the ground.

She stood up, brushing dust off of her jeans and t-shirt. She looked around. Nothing looked familiar. "Dad" she called out, hoping that he might be near. The only thing that she heard in return was silence.

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><p>Sorry that this chapter is pretty weak. I wanted to get another one out before this next school week started.<p>

Thank you again for your review kelleyj, I hope that Hatter's reaction was good enough. I would have had him question her more, but I felt that I should keep on track with the story and that it wasn't really the time for questions.

As always, please review. I probably won't be able to get another chapter up until Wednesday or Thursday due to school work (yay college) but hopefully my next chapter will make up for the wait.


	4. Chapter 3 - A Meeting in the Woods

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin and nothing else.

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><p>Abby didn't want to be caught and she had a feeling that the suits were going to search the area for her. She didn't have time to wait around to see if her father would find his way to where she was. She doubted that he would even know where she was. She was, after all, in the middle of a forest, having crash landed after he flew in a separate direction. While she had hoped that something would have drawn them back together, she knew that relying on that hope alone would probably just get her captured or killed.<p>

She ended up wandering away from the flamingo, which now lay in pieces scattered along the forest floor. Every once in a while, she would hear a twig snap and would look around wildly to see if the sound came from a friend or a foe. However, she never seemed to see anyone. She would always keep walking even though she felt like something was wrong.

If it was the suits, she assumed they would just ambush her. She couldn't think of any reason for them to just follow her and occasionally make noise. Similarly, she couldn't imagine her father following her in this manner either. If it were either her father or suits, they would make their presence known immediately.

After about the 7th twig snap, Abby had had enough. "Alright, come out. I'm done playing your games." She shouted at seemingly nothing. She waited, turned in the direction the sound had come from. Nothing appeared.

Abby started walking again, but this time she was walking backwards so that she might be able to see what was making the noise. After a few steps, nothing seemed to be following her. She doubted that she was making the noise up. There was definitely someone following her. She just couldn't see them. She stopped walking and waited some more.

"Come on, I know you're out there. I'm not going to hurt you." She shouted, though she doubted that anything out here would be afraid of her. That was when she saw it. Someone peeked out from behind a tree that was maybe 50 feet away. "A-hah" she shouted, running toward the tree. When she got to it, whoever had been there was gone. She hadn't seen the person go anywhere, they had just vanished. "Hey, no fair…" she said, staring at the spot where her stalker should have been.

Figuring that she'd scared whoever it was off, she turned to start walking again and jumped back in surprise. There was a man standing right behind her. He had short, untamed brown hair. His clothing was mostly brown, green, and dirt smudged. He looked like he hadn't exactly seen civilization in a while.

"Whoa, what're you doing?" Abby said as her hands rose up to protect herself if he attacked her.

"You asked me to come out." The man said simply.

"You've been following me. Why?" Abby asked. She let her hands fall slightly while she waited for his answer.

"Saw the crash, wanted to make sure that you wouldn't be getting yourself in any trouble." The man said with a shrug. "I do, after all, know this forest quite well." He added.

"Who are you?" Abby asked, not quite sure what to think of him.

"You can call me Griffin." He said before looking her up and down. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asked.

"Look, Griffin, do you know a way out of this forest?" she asked.

"Maybe." Griffin said.

Abby shook her head with a sigh. That was, more than likely, a no. "Well, thanks then." She said, making her way around him and continuing in the direction that she'd previously been going.

"You don't want to go that way." Griffin called after her.

"Why not?" Abby asked, looking over her shoulder as she walked, seeing that he was following her.

"Because you probably don't want to be running into the Queen of Hearts." He replied.

Abby turned sharply. "The Queen of Hearts is hiding out here in the forest?" she asked. He replied with a simple nod. "Why? Shouldn't she be organizing troops and whatnot?" she asked.

"She has all of her most loyal followers with her. To be honest, I really don't think she's that much of a threat." He said.

"She was enough of a threat that the Hearts dragged me here." Abby remarked.

"Sure. So, where is it you want to go anyway?" he asked.

Abby opened her mouth, but then closed it again. She wanted to say that she was going to the Looking Glass, but her father was here. She had a chance to save him and bring him home. While she wanted to just go back to living her life, she knew that she wouldn't be able to without at least trying to get him back to her mother. "Do you know where the Hatter might be?" she asked.

"Last I heard he was locked up in the Heart's castle for going through the mirror. I know who we can ask, though. Someone who might have more up to date information." Griffin replied, walking around Abby and motioning for her to follow him.

"Who is this person?" she asked.

"Well, he's not really a person so much as a cat. He doesn't really talk, he shows you visions. We just have to find him and we might be able to see what has been happening with the Hatter." Griffin said. "Sometimes, he's referred to as the Cheshire, but he's pretty difficult to find." He added . "You know, you never did say who you were." He said after she was following him.

"I'm Abby" she said simply, figuring that if her mother really did come here that her last name might be known around Wonderland. So, to be safe, she figured that she shouldn't be using it.

"Well, Abby, why do you want to find the Hatter? He's nothing but a conman whose been locked up for the better part of the last 20 years." Griffin asked.

"I have my reasons." She replied.

"Not so big on the trust then. I understand. I doubt that I would trust me if I were you. Of course, without me you were going to be walking head first into the Queen's neck of the woods. Still, I guess I don't exactly look the part of someone who can be trusted. After all, I'm out here in the woods for a reason." Griffin said.

"What reason?" Abby asked, rather confused.

"Oh, please, I'm sure that you've heard of me before." Griffin replied with a short laugh over his shoulder. Abby took a few long strides so that she could be walking beside him.

"No, I really haven't. Like you said earlier, I'm not from around here." She said.

"Well, that'd be a first. After all, King Jack's suits have been hunting me for years." Griffin replied.

"Why?" Abby asked.

"Because I don't want to be like Hatter. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in the dungeons. Plus, I'm innocent." He said.

"What do they think you did?" she asked.

"They think I tried to poison the prince. I didn't. I didn't even used to deal with the food. I was just a messenger boy in the castle. One day, I happened to deliver a message to the cook who then asked me to take the git his food. Next thing I know, he's coughing and hacking and the suits realized that his drink had been poisoned. I got out of there as quick as I could and I was right to do so. You're not the first person I've seen out here. Everyone else has been after my head. Well, that and the rest of me. King Jack wants me alive." Griffin responded.

"So, who poisoned his food?" Abby asked.

"Don't know, don't care. I'd assume that it's one of the Queen of Heart's men, but I wouldn't go near enough to her camp to find out if the rest of the forest was burning and that was the only way." He replied.

"Why not?" Abby asked.

"The Queen is kind of crazy. She'd probably lop off my head as soon as she saw me. She's not exactly the nicest woman and, since she lost power, she's been even further off the deep end." He said.

"Okay, how long have you been in these woods?" she asked.

"Nine months and a day." Griffin replied. "Come on, the Cheshire is sometimes over here." He said, making his way a little quicker. Abby heard some rustling to her right and turned. There it was, at least she thought that would be it. It certainly looked like a cat.

"Here kitty, kitty." She said before she jumped backward. The cat's mouth had widened in a smile that stretched ear to ear. Abby looked around to see if Griffin was there, he could tell her if this was normal. He wasn't anywhere in sight, but she did see a conspicuous door that stood between two trees. She walked over to it and opened it slowly. She was sure that this door hadn't been there before.

"Where's the girl, Hatter?" the King's voice asked. He sounded like he was trying to hold back his anger.

"I dunno." Hatter replied, smugly.

"I'm not playing games, here. Your daughter is wandering around out there somewhere and the suits haven't been able to find her. Where is she?" Jack asked.

"How should I know? I've only spoken with her for about 15 minutes." Hatter replied. "She could be anywhere. She could even be back at the Looking Glass by now probably." He added.

"She's not at the Looking Glass, it's being guarded." Jack said.

"Well then, I guess you should be happy that she's still in Wonderland." Hatter said.

"You and I both know that the Looking Glass isn't the only way back to her world." Jack said.

"Yeah, but I didn't exactly have time to lead her to a rabbit hole. If you couldn't remember, they're rather difficult to find on your own." Hatter said.

"Where would she go?" Jack asked.

"If she was smart? She'd go straight back home." Hatter replied.

"You planned to meet up with her. There must have been a rendezvous point." The King tried.

"I planned to draw your suits away from her so that she could get away. If she's anything like her mother, she's resourceful enough to find her way back to the Looking Glass." The prisoner responded.

"You didn't intend to get caught, Hatter. I know you." Jack said.

"I didn't, did I? Seems like that was the plan to me." Hatter replied with a smirk plastered across his face.

"No, you didn't. You wouldn't have left her to navigate the forest by herself." Jack said.

"Sure looks like I did. Flying off in a different direction and getting myself caught. Seems like a pretty stupid plan to me if I didn't want to be caught." Hatter said.

"Why would you want to be caught?" Jack asked.

"The more time your suits spent dealing with me, the more time Abby would have before they came looking for her." He replied.

"Well, you had better hope they do find her. The Queen of Hearts has been rallying her people in the forest. I would hate to see what would happen if she got her hands on Alice's daughter." Jack said.

"You could let me go to look for her." Hatter said his face suddenly pale.

"The suits are combing the forest as we speak. They've probably already found her by now." Jack replied.

"Abby" a new voice sounded and Abby could feel herself being shaken.

She opened her eyes with a groan to see Griffin standing over her. "Hey, what the…" she said as she scooted away from him as quickly as she could. She didn't like it when people were in her personal space.

"You found the Cheshire?" he asked.

"What?" Abby asked.

"The Cheshire? The cat? The one that smiles and gives people visions?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah…I think." Abby replied.

"Well?" he asked.

"He's back in the dungeons. Suits are looking for us. He mentioned something about a rabbit hole to the King. Said that he doubted that I would have found it on my own." She said.

"Yeah, rabbit holes go from our world to the Oyster's world. Why would he be talking about that?" Griffin asked, apparently still not realizing that Abby was an Oyster.

"Well, let's just say that I'm really not from around here." Abby said, raising her eyebrows at him as she stood up.

"Oh, you don't look like an Oyster." He said.

"You don't look like a Wonderlander." Abby replied.

"How would you know what a Wonderlander looks like?"

"How would you know what an Oyster looks like?"

"Fine, so you want to go looking for a rabbit hole, yeah?" he asked.

"No." she said.

"No?"

"I've got to go back to the castle." She said.

"Back?"

"Yeah, that's where I was flying from."

"Why would you want to go back to the castle?" he asked.

"To get my…the Hatter out of the dungeon and take him back to my world." She replied.

"Why would the Hatter matter?" he asked.

"He just does. Now, are you going to help me or not?" she asked.

"Why not? It's not like the suits are competent anyway." He said, turning and heading off again with Abby following.

* * *

><p>Author's note: Thank you, kelleyj, for your feedback. I'm glad that you liked Hatter's reaction. Hope this chapter is also good.<p>

As always, please review. I love to hear comments and especially love constructive criticism.


	5. Chapter 4 - Trouble

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Griffin and Cillian and nothing else.

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><p>Abby wasn't entirely trusting of Griffin. After all, she'd just met him and didn't know anything about him other than that he was hiding in the woods after being accused of attempting to murder the Prince of Wonderland. She felt like he was genuinely going to try to help her, though.<p>

"So, why haven't you tried to leave? Wouldn't that be easier than hiding in the forest?" she asked after they'd been walking for a while.

Griffin stayed silent for a few minutes, obviously contemplating what he should tell her. "I don't mind the forest. I mean, you have to look out for the Jabberwock occasionally, but other than that it's not too dangerous out here." He said.

"I thought you said the Queen was out here. Isn't that somewhat dangerous?" she asked. Griffin stopped and turned toward her.

"The Queen doesn't scare me. She has her followers, but no real power." He said. It seemed to Abby as if he seemed a little offended by the thought that the Queen might pose a threat to him.

"From what I heard, she's a bit scary." She said, trying to counter what he had said.

"Well, she isn't." he said.

In their talking, they didn't hear very much of what was going on around them. They didn't hear rustling in the bushes just behind the trees next to them. Before Abby responded, though, she did hear a noise. Her head instantly snapped toward where the sound came from and Griffin looked as well. Abby couldn't see anything, but she felt like she should run. She couldn't tell if Griffin felt the same way, though. She didn't want to run off if she didn't have to, though. So, while he stayed put, she did.

In hind-sight, from how he'd been talking, she should have just listened to her gut instincts. Sadly, she didn't. She let what he'd been saying influence her. It led to a very bad outcome. The rustling that they'd finally heard was from a man in long black robes stepped out from the bush that they were looking at, followed by five others.

"Run" Griffin finally said, but it was too late. Looking around, they were surrounded by yet more men. Abby tried to fight to make a way to run away from the men, but there were too many. She and Griffin were easily overpowered. Both of them ended up with their hands tied together behind their backs, walking through the forest with men all around them.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Abby kept asking, but none of the men spoke to her.

Griffin just looked disgruntled and shook his head whenever Abby asked them questions. After about a half an hour of walking and listening to her questioning the men, he finally spoke up. "They're the Queen's suits." He said.

"So, we're being taken to the Queen of Hearts?" Abby asked.

"Obviously." Griffin replied. This obviously had not been part of his plan as he seemed to be getting angrier by the moment. Abby started looking around, quickly, to try to find a way out of the situation even though it seemed impossible. It really was impossible, though. There were too many suits around them for them to even think about escaping. It made matters worse that they were both restrained.

It wasn't much longer until they came to a clearing. The clearing had a lot more people and had some small buildings that Abby figured were made from the trees that used to be in the area because she could see numerous stumps all over the clearing. She and Griffin were led to one of the small buildings. One suit grabbed Abby by her upper arm and pulled her through the doorway of the building. Abby looked back at Griffin to see that he was receiving the same treatment.

When she looked back, she saw a woman with red hair glaring at her. Her eyes widened and she realized that this was the Queen of Hearts. She stared at the woman for a moment before the Queen started talking.

"You look rather familiar. And I hear that you are wanted for trying to murder my grandson." She said. The first sentence was directed at Abby and the second at Griffin. The Queen looked back at Abby, though. "You do look very familiar. Where do I know you from? Have you been here before?" she asked.

Abby shook her head. "No, this is my first time in Wonderland." She said. That obviously told the Queen what she needed to know.

"Of course, that nose, those cheeks, I know why you are familiar. You look like that Oyster girl." She said. She then looked at the suit whose hand was still wrapped around her arm. "You know what to do." She said. Abby looked from the suit to the Queen as he started to pull her away. Suddenly, she realized what was happening.

"No, I haven't done anything. You can't chop off my head because I look like someone." She said, but the Queen wasn't listening. She was already looking over Griffin. Abby could barely hear her speaking after she was pulled from the building. "You can't be serious. You can't cut off my head. I haven't done anything." She said to the suit. He did not care what she was saying.

He was leading her into the forest when she started to panic. She could not die in this place. She turned sharply and head-butted the man holding her. This surprised him and he stumbled away from her, releasing her arm to put his hand to his head. Abby then started running awkwardly through the forest. She knew that suits would be following her soon, but she needed to get away. Having her arms tied behind her back was not helping her run, though. Eventually, she slowed down in order to bend and bring her arms down under her feet and then forward so that she could at least have them in front of her. She then resumed running even though she had no idea where she was running.

She looked back, briefly, seeing that no one was behind her. That was when she started to feel guilty. She ran away, leaving Griffin with the Queen of Hearts. He would probably be executed and it would be her fault for having him help her. She wanted to turn and act like it didn't matter to her, but it did. He had been helping her and she left him to die. She looked back in the direction that she had been going for a moment and knew instantly that she had to try to do something.

She started making her way back to the clearing in a round-about way. She looked around the clearing through some bushes. She didn't see Griffin. In fact, she didn't even see many suits. She made her way around the perimeter of the clearing to where she was behind some of the buildings. She then tried to sneak up to the door of the one that she was sure the Queen had been in. When she neared the front of the building, she could hear the Queen talking inside.

"Just like the Oyster-girl. What do you know about her?" she was asking someone.

"I don't know anything about her." Griffin, at least it sounded like Griffin, said.

"You were found with her. You must know something." The Queen pushed.

"All I know is that she's going to a rabbit hole." Griffin replied.

"A rabbit hole? She's trying to go back to the Oysters. Is she the daughter of Alice?" she asked.

"How should I know?" he asked.

"You were with her." The Queen replied.

"Look, I found a pretty girl in the woods and was helping her to find a rabbit hole. We didn't exchange life stories or anything." Griffin replied.

"You know more than you are saying. I know you know more than you are saying." The Queen said.

"You don't know anything about what I know" Griffin said.

"Don't make me torture answers out of you. It'll be much more difficult without the Doctors." She said.

"You don't scare me." Griffin replied.

"I should."

"Well, you don't and nothing that you can do will change that."

"We'll see about that." The Queen said. Abby waited for more, but none came. Instead, she shrank back when she saw a suit exit the building with Griffin. Neither of them saw her. The suit certainly didn't count on having someone hit him from behind. Abby had used her still-tied hands to hit him as hard as she could on the back of his head. The suit crumpled to the ground and Griffin looked at him and then her.

"Run" she said before turning and rushing back into the forest as she heard the few suits that were still around start to shout. She glanced back briefly to make sure that Griffin was following her.

"We're not gonna be able to outrun these guys without getting a little creative." Griffin shouted to her.

"Well, what would you suggest Mr. They're-Not-That-Big-Of-A-Deal?" Abby shouted back.

"Climb that tree." Griffin shouted. Abby looked around and noticed the one that he probably meant. It had some branches low enough.

"I don't know about you, but my hands are tied together." Abby said, frustrated.

"Well, if you would slow down for a minute, I could help with that." He said. Abby slowed and turned. "My pocket. There's a knife in my pocket." He said, indicating his right pocket. Abby made her way over to him and reached into his pocket, grabbing the knife as quickly as she could. He then turned, obviously wanting her to cut him free first. She did, but she could hear the suits. They were still distant, but she could hear them. After a moment, his ropes fell away. He turned, took the knife from her, and with one swipe cut her ropes off.

"Okay, tree, now." He said, letting her climb up first. They managed to get out of sight in time for the suits to not notice them. However, one of them noticed the ropes that were still lying on the ground. Abby turned to Griffin and he put a finger to his mouth. The suits were searching the area and they weren't likely to leave for quite some time since they'd found the clue.

"Thank you" Abby whispered quietly.

"What are you talking about? You're the one who saved me." Griffin replied as quietly as he could.

* * *

><p>Author's note: I got this chapter out as early as I could. I hope it's a decent read even though I feel like I didn't portray the suits as being very competent. For the record, most of them went off searching for Abby when she escaped, which is why there weren't very many of them in the clearing. Also, to kelleyj, thank you for reviewing again. I really appreciate it. Sorry they haven't saved Hatter yet, but it's coming. It might not be for a few chapters, but it's coming.<p>

As always, please review. I love to hear what people have to say.


	6. Chapter 5 - Caught

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin and nothing else.

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><p>The suits did not leave very quickly. Oddly enough, none of them seemed to think about looking up for the two of them. Abby just assumed that people here probably just didn't climb trees very much. As time went on, she started to get uncomfortable. After a few hours, her thighs, back, and arms were screaming in pain because of how she was sitting. The two of them didn't dare to move, not while the suits were searching the area. Whenever one left, another one seemed to show up. By the time the suits finally did leave, the sun had set and the forest was dark.<p>

"I think it's safe. I'll climb down first then you follow me." Griffin said quietly. Abby nodded. Soon, they were both back on the ground. Abby was groaning and trying to rub her sore muscles, but Griffin wouldn't have any of it. "We need to move, Abby. Unless you want to be caught again." He said.

"How aren't you sore?" Abby asked as she started walking with him.

"Eh, I'm used to the trees. How do you think I've managed out here for so long without being caught?" he asked. Abby just nodded again. The forest was barely lit by moonlight as they made their way through it.

"So, why are we rescuing the Hatter?" Griffin asked.

"We just are." Abby said.

"You know, you're going to have to trust me in order for us to pull this off. So, why not tell me what the thing with Hatter is? What? Is he your long lost uncle or something?" he pushed.

"We're probably going to have to make some kind of camp. I don't know about you, but I'm a bit tired." Abby said, trying to dodge the questions.

"We'll want to put quite some distance between us and that camp before we do. They'll be out looking for us again in the morning." He said.

"Yeah, but you sent them in the wrong direction." Abby said. Griffin looked at her with obvious confusion. "You told the Queen that you were taking me to a rabbit hole. They don't know that we're going to Heart Castle." Abby said.

"Right, yeah. Well, they will probably still look around for us instead of going straight there. You know, they wouldn't want to just go and wait for us there." He said. "So, do you know who the Queen was talking about? Alice?" he asked.

"Alice is my mother. She came here years before I was born. Her time here was like a bedtime story for me." Abby replied.

"Oh. It wasn't that long ago that she came here, was it?" he asked.

"It's been about 20 years." Abby replied.

"Ah, well, I was born after she was here. I knew it was either right before I was born or right after." He said.

"How old are you?" Abby asked.

"Well, how old are you?"

"I asked first"

"So?"

"Fine, don't tell me." She said.

"19"

"What?"

"I'm 19 years old." Griffin said. "Why does it matter anyway?"

"It doesn't really, I was just curious. Has Wonderland been mostly peaceful before all of this? I mean, my mother always made it sound really dangerous. Was it different without the Queen in power?" she asked.

"I wouldn't know. It doesn't seem too particularly dangerous right now. So, I guess it probably has been better since your mother came." He replied.

"Good." Abby said. They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"You never did explain about the Hatter." He said.

"Look, he's a friend of my mom's. I just think that she'd probably not want him in prison for the rest of his life." Abby said, hoping he would stop asking her about Hatter.

"Seems like an awful lot of trouble for a friend."

"He was a really good friend. He saved her life."

"Hm" Griffin grunted. Abby didn't know whether or not to be pleased with his end to the questioning.

They continued walking for what seemed like forever. Abby was extremely tired by the time Griffin said they could stop and make camp. It didn't take much for her to fall asleep and she was woken all too early.

* * *

><p>"Come on, we need to get going." Griffin said.<p>

"Don't you sleep?" she asked.

"I did and now we need to move." He replied.

The sun was just rising. Abby was sure that they'd just gotten two or three hours of sleep. Still, she was up and moving. She figured that it was best to follow Griffin's advice. After all, he knew how to survive in this forest. Abby didn't even know how to survive on a nature trail let alone in a forest from a completely different world. Her stomach was rumbling as they were walking. She tried to ignore it, but it was so loud that even Griffin heard it.

"Here" he said, grabbing something out of his pocket.

"No thanks."

"If you don't eat something, the entire forest will know where we are. Eat it." He said.

Abby grabbed the small wrapped package and opened it. It was a roll. "What? Where did?" She asked, looking at him, confused. There weren't exactly any ovens around on the forest floor and she didn't think that he'd be able to get the ingredients even if there were.

"Stole it from the Queen. It's not a big deal, really." He said.

"Thanks" Abby said as she munched on the roll.

"We need to start coming up with a plan for how we're going to break the Hatter out of Heart Castle. There are quite a few suits there even if they are still looking for you in the forest. I know my way around the castle, but we still need some kind of strategy." He said.

"Well, we're not going to blend in. I think that's going to be our biggest issue. Maybe if we could knock out a couple of the suits and then take their uniforms?" she asked.

"It would help us to blend in more, but the other suits might notice us. They tend to recognize one another." He said.

"We could pull the fire alarm" Abby said.

"The what?"

"The fire alarm. It warns everyone in the building to get out because there's a fire." Abby said.

"We don't have those in Wonderland." Griffin replied.

"We could start a fire…" Abby trailed off.

"No we couldn't." Griffin replied.

"Why not?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly adept at building fires." Griffin replied.

"How've you survived in the forest for so long? Didn't you have to make fire to cook things?" she asked.

"I don't cook. I've been living off of what I can gather or steal." He said. "By the way, don't eat the pink berries."

"Why?" she asked.

"Just trust me on this. You don't want to eat the pink berries." He said.

"Okay. I guess it really doesn't matter that much. After we get my…Hatter…we'll be leaving." She said.

"Yeah, after we get _your_ Hatter you will be leaving." Griffin said as Abby blushed.

"It's not like…you don't…he's not _my_ Hatter." She stammered.

"Well, he obviously is something to you. So, what is he?" he asked.

"He's my mom's friend. I told you this last night." Abby replied.

"No, he's something more than that. With how long he's been in those dungeons, he either made quite the impression on your mother or he was more than just a friend." Griffin replied.

"Let's just come up with some plan and quit focusing on the Hatter. So, fire is out. What can we do for a distraction?" she asked.

"Well, I don't particularly like this thought, but I would make a great distraction." Griffin replied.

"What?" Abby asked.

"I'm wanted…for attempted murder…of the prince. If the suits hear that I'm anywhere near the castle, they'll be out looking for me." He said.

"That's not an option. I don't know where the dungeons are. I'll need your help in the castle." She said.

"We could always get caught." He suggested. Abby stopped walking to glare at him. "What? It would get us into the castle and to the dungeons." He said.

"We also want to get out." She said.

"That would be the easy part." He replied.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but from what I've heard about dungeons you don't just walk out of them." Abby replied.

"Trust me I can get us out of there. All we need to do is get in." he said.

"How would you get us out of there?" she asked.

"Look, I know a thing or two about that castle. Getting out is not going to be hard." He said.

"Pretty sure it is. That's what the bars and locks are for." She said.

"Remember when I said that I ran immediately after the prince was poisoned?" he asked.

"Yes." Abby said not understanding the relevance of the question to their current topic.

"Well, I did, but I was caught a couple of months later." He said. "I've escaped from the castle's dungeons twice in the past three years." He added.

"Doesn't that mean that they'll be keeping a closer eye on you?" she asked.

"Maybe, but probably not." Griffin replied.

"I'm not that comfortable with probably." Abby said.

"Okay, we'll try it your way first. We will steal uniforms from a couple of the suits discretely and then try to break Hatter out of the dungeon without notice. But, if things go south, my plan is plan B." he said.

"Okay. Though your plan isn't really a plan it's just getting caught." She said.

* * *

><p>After a few more hours of walking and a bit of conversation where Griffin again tried to figure out Abby's connection to Hatter, they were close enough to Heart Castle to encounter a patrol of suits. There were too many of them to fight, though. It was a group of about 10. Abby and Griffin managed to stay hidden from them, but only barely.<p>

"I think we'll be going with my plan." Griffin whispered to her once the coast was clear. Abby shot him an annoyed look.

"Quit being so pessimistic." Abby said. They followed the patrol as quietly as they could for a while, hoping that at least one of them would break off from the group. None of them did, they just kept circling the area of the forest that was around the castle. "Maybe we can just sneak into the castle?" Abby asked hopefully.

"We can try." Griffin said.

Abby should have known not to go along with anything that Griffin said at that point. They didn't even get within thirty feet of the castle before being surrounded by suits. Abby looked over at Griffin when they were surrounded and saw a bit of a smirk on his face.

That was when things got even more complex. Griffin and Abby did not end up going to the same place. Some of the suits took Griffin down one hallway while the others took her in the opposite direction. She could only assume that they were taking Griffin to the dungeons because she was deposited back in the room that she'd woken up in.

She paced, waiting impatiently for something to happen. She knew that, eventually, someone would come to talk to her. She heard a knock on the door and almost hoped that it was Griffin with her father. However, she realized as soon as Cillian entered the room that it was ridiculous to think that Griffin would even know where she'd been taken to begin with.

"Cillian." She said.

"Abby." He replied.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I want to thank you. You did bring my would be murderer here." He said.

"Oh, Griffin." She said.

"Yes. Griffin. You don't seem surprised." He said.

"He told me that he was framed because someone tried to poison you, yes." She said.

"So, why would the two of you have been coming here? I doubt that it was accidental since that's a large forest and you've only been gone a day." Cillian said.

"I wanted to get Hatter." She said.

"Abby, you can have your father. All we want is for your help with the people of Wonderland." He replied.

"I don't know anything about your people. I just want to go home." She said. She crossed the room to stand right in front of Cillian and glare at him up close.

"Abigail, you could save an entire world." He said.

"No, I couldn't. So, stop asking me to." She said.

"Your mother could and so can you." He said.

Abby shook her head. "How would I even go about saving your world? My mother only managed to save it because she was lucky." She said.

"Your mother wasn't lucky. She was smart. Come with me." He said moving to take her hand. She pulled her hand away from him causing him to frown slightly before turning. "Come on" he said as he walked away. She followed him.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're going to be taking a Scarab to the city. You'll get to see just how big of an impact you can make." He said.

"And then you'll set my dad and Griffin free?" she asked.

"No. After you help us regain full control of Wonderland, we'll set your father free." He said.

"What about Griffin?" she asked.

"What about him?"

"He helped me."

"And he tried to kill me."

"Not according to him." She said.

"Who are you going to believe? A prince who is offering you your father back and a way to get back home or a man you met in the woods?" he asked.

"He seems a lot more honest than you do." She said.

"How so?" Cillian asked.

"Well, for starters, he didn't kidnap me from my home." Abby replied.

"That was a misunderstanding." He said.

"He sent the Queen in the wrong direction so that I could get away." She added.

"The Queen?"

"Yeah, the Queen of Hearts. You know, the woman that you're all so threatened by." She said.

"You met her?" Cillian asked. By this point, they were on the roof of the building and Abby could only guess that the giant beetle-like contraption was the Scarab.

"Yes. And we got away." She said as they boarded the machine.

"How?" Cillian asked.

"I don't know. We just got away. The suits looked for us for hours, but we'd climbed a tree and they didn't find us." She said. The beetle shook and then lifted off of the castle. While Abby wasn't afraid of heights, this contraption made her a bit uncomfortable. It didn't feel like it was well put together and seemed to rattle every few minutes.

"Don't worry, it's just old." Cillian said.

"What?" she asked.

"Scarab, it's old." He repeated. Abby just nodded her head.

"So, why are we going into the city?" she asked.

"So that you can meet the people my father is trying to save." Cillian replied.

"I don't want to meet your people. I just want to go home." Abby said.

"Just humor me, okay?" Cillian asked.

Abby grumbled, but knew there would be no use in arguing with him. They would be in the city for a while and then he would take her back to the castle and maybe, just maybe, she could figure out a way to break her father and Griffin out of the dungeons.

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><p>Author's note: I know that this chapter is a bit choppy, but I didn't want to spend too much time with Abby and Griffin just wandering around in the forest. Please leave a review because I appreciate all criticism. Also, I have a question. Would you like to have me put segments of the story in other perspectives? So far, as you can tell, the story has only been from Abby's perspective. I was wondering if you like this style or if you would prefer to see what else is happening with characters that aren't near Abby?<p>

Anna: Thank you for your review and I hope you liked this chapter as much as you've liked the others.

kelleyj: Thank you again. I hope that you're not too disappointed that the Queen isn't in this chapter. She is a large part of this story, but her role will mainly come in later.


	7. Chapter 6 - Through the City

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, Griffin and nothing else.

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><p>Soon, Abby and Cillian arrived in the city. However, Cillian surprised her right away by turning to the suits. "I'm going to take her into the city alone. I would like for all of you to wait here." He said. The suit that seemed to be in charge of the other ones did not seem to like this idea.<p>

"It's dangerous. We can't just let you go into the city unprotected." He said.

"This isn't a request. I've seen her fight. She can handle herself. Plus, most of the danger is in the forest. We will be fine. You all will wait here and we will be back soon." He said before leaving the Scarab and waiting outside for Abby. She followed him, very confused. They walked into the city and soon Abby pushed Cillian's strange behavior to the back of her mind.

The city was beautiful. Well, she thought it was beautiful. They were walking on a sidewalk that was at least a hundred feet off the ground and yet there were still trees. Across the way, she could see the roots of a tree extending under the sidewalk. She didn't notice the people around too much because she was so busy looking at all of the architecture. However, when she finally did notice the people, her expression fell.

"Who are these people? Why are they like this?" she asked. Everyone that she saw, not that many people were hanging around, was dressed in rags and looked like they hadn't eaten in months.

"These are the citizens of Wonderland. We provided them with adequate food and shelter for years after your mother came here. However, the Queen is ruining that. Her followers are sabotaging everything." He said. Abby stared at them for a moment before he led her away.

"How would my mother or I be able to help? If the Queen is sabotaging you…don't you have any kind of army that can deal with her?" she asked.

"Just follow me." He said. Abby wanted to ask more. However, this didn't seem to be going quite how she'd thought it would go. Wasn't the point of this excursion to make Abby want to help these people? Why, then, would Cillian be leading her away from them? Why wouldn't he be telling her all about their struggles to gain their sympathy?

"That is where the Great Library used to be." He said, pointing across the large gap that would, in Abby's world, have been a street. There was a building there that looked much like the rest of the buildings. Abby didn't see the difference and didn't understand the significance.

"What is the Great Library?" she asked.

"It was all of the books that were saved when the Queen of Hearts took control of the land. She wanted them all destroyed. They've since been moved to the castle, but that building was where many refugees hid for years. Many of them were in hiding for her entire reign. They wanted nothing to do with her or her…policies." He said before starting to walk again.

Abby walked with him. "If they were in hiding for years, how did they survive?" she asked.

"People like your father would smuggle them food and other necessities." He said simply. Abby didn't ask any more questions as they walked away from the building. "There is the shop that your father used to run." Cillian suddenly said after about ten more minutes of walking. Abby looked to where he was pointing. The building looked slightly different from the rest. She almost wanted to go into it and see what was inside, but Cillian started to walk again. Abby followed him. She had to. She didn't know how to get back to the castle, so she couldn't just run off.

They walked for a lot longer this time. Abby didn't know where they were going or how long they'd been walking, but it felt like they'd walked across the entire city by the time Cillian pointed to another building. "That is where we're going." He said simply before leading her to the building. Abby was rather confused when they entered it. On the main floor, there were simply stairs leading up to a hallway that had stairs leading up to a mirror.

"That, Abby, is the Looking Glass. It is already prepared for your return trip." He said.

Abby looked at the prince with confusion. "What?" she asked.

"It's ready for your to go home." He said.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she asked.

"No joke. Past that glass is your home. It's your world. All you have to do is walk through." He said.

"No" Abby said rather loudly and suddenly.

"What? That's what you wanted." Cillian said. It was his turn to be confused.

"No, I need to take Hatter back. I need to take my father back home to my mother." She said.

"You won't be taking your father anywhere." Cillian replied.

"The King said…"

"My father lied to you. He has no intentions of releasing the Hatter. He hates your father more than anything else living or dead from Wonderland or your world." Cillian said, moving so that he was between Abby and the exit and walking toward her. She retreated, facing him as he advanced. She didn't want to go through the mirror yet, though. So, she made sure that she wasn't too close to it, but space was becoming limited.

"Why would he hate my father so much?" she asked.

"He stole your mother from him." Cillian replied.

"Stole her?"

"Your mother was involved with my father before she came to Wonderland. He thinks she left him for Hatter." Cillian replied.

"But they were just friends."

"No, they weren't. They were a lot more than just friends." Cillian replied.

"Even so, he obviously moved on. Otherwise you wouldn't exist." She said.

"He did marry, but that was only because Wonderland needed a Queen. At least that's what he thought and your mother refused. So, he married my mother who died two years later in childbirth." He said.

"Still, he promised." Abby said, still retreating. Now, though, she was dangerously close to the mirror.

"He would never go through with it, Abby. He's trying to trick you into helping us. He's just using your father. He will not let him go." He said. Abby opened her mouth to protest, but didn't manage to get a word out before Cillian lunged at her.

She tried to fend him off, but she was not prepared at all for what happened. Hitting, she could deal with. Pushing, she could handle. Grabbing, she could work with. But kissing? Her mind drew a blank on what to do. She could not concentrate because she was simply too surprised to do anything. He continued forward, pushing her gently against a solid, cool surface. The mirror! She suddenly panicked and just did the first thing that she could think of. She stomped on his foot and then thrust her palm into his stomach. It gave her just enough room to get out from between him and the mirror.

He groaned, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the mirror, holding his stomach with one hand and pushing on the mirror with the other. "Why?" he asked, but the question wasn't directed at Abby.

"Because, it needs this to run." Abby heard someone behind them say. She turned around quickly to see the suit from earlier, the one that seemed to be the boss of the others. He was holding up something that looked like a ring. "Your father said that you might do something stupid." He said.

"Give that back!" Cillian shouted.

"I'm afraid, I can't do that. We can't have her return to her world just yet." He said.

"She doesn't belong here! It's dangerous!" he said, obviously infuriated.

"And it will be dangerous for us as well if we can't get control of Wonderland." He said.

"Number ten, I order you to give me the ring." Cillian said.

"I'm sorry, Cillian, but your feelings do not supersede your father's orders. Come on, we need to go back to the castle." Number Ten said, holding out his hand to indicate that they should come with him. Cillian looked like he was trying to come up with some kind of plan. "Just come back. There's nothing more that you can do here." Number Ten said, obviously reading Cillian's expression. Abby had already made her way over toward the suit and the exit.

Abby wanted to get back to the castle even quicker now. She didn't want to be near Cillian. She didn't trust him at all now. Not only had he tried to send her back home without her father, but he had kissed her. He had kissed her to try to get her through the Looking Glass easily. She glared at him as he followed her lead and made his way back down the hallway toward Number Ten.

Soon, they were back on the Scarab. Abby glared at Cillian every few minutes while shaking her head. After a while, he finally had his fill of that treatment.

"What?" he asked.

"You kissed me!" she hissed.

"You wouldn't have gone through the mirror willingly and I didn't want to push you." He said.

"You kissed me." She reiterated.

"It's too dangerous here for you. You need to get out of here. I was trying to send you home." He said.

"By kissing me?" she asked.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Cillian replied.

Abby simply responded to that statement with a smack across the prince's face. From that point on, a suit stood between them. The prince might have tried to defy his father, but he was still a prince and the suits wouldn't let any real harm come to him.

-Meanwhile-

When Abby had been led to her room, Griffin had been led to the dungeons. The King had added new cell bars and some shackles since his last visit to the dungeons. "Ooo, I see you have new toys down here." He said to the suit that was escorting him as they neared the Hatter's cell.

"Shut up" was all that the suit said in return before shoving Griffin into the cell next to Hatter forcefully before shutting and locking the bars.

"What? No bedtime story?" Griffin shouted as the suit walked away quickly.

"You really should just leave them alone." Hatter said, shaking his head at the younger man.

"What would you know?" Griffin asked with a bit of a smirk.

"I'd know better than to get myself caught again after escaping." Hatter replied.

"I'm exactly where I want to be." Griffin replied.

"Oh?"

"Yes!" Griffin said. The suits had searched his pockets, but they hadn't found all of them. He had hidden pockets in his clothes for occasions like these. "Met a girl." He said as he pulled out a knife and made his way to the cell door. "Said she wanted you out of here." He added.

"Abby. Is she all right?" he asked.

"Lighten up, Hatter. She's fine. She's probably a bit upset at me, but fine nonetheless." He said.

"She's here?" he asked.

"Yeah, upstairs I'm guessing. Probably twelfth floor if I'd take a guess at where she is." He said.

"You don't know where she is?" Hatter asked.

"I expected them to bring her down here. Didn't think she would be taken away from the dungeons after being captured outside the castle." He replied.

"Captured?" Hatter asked.

"Yeah, it was my idea. Now, we've gotta go and find her before escaping, though." He said. He was obviously frustrated. He slipped his hand through the bars of his cell and started working on the lock with his knife. "She seems obsessed with you. Dunno why, apparently she hasn't realized that you only have eyes for that Alice woman." He said.

"If anything's happened to her…"

"Don't go getting all protective. It's not like you're her dad or anything." Griffin said as he continued to work on the lock. Hatter just shut his mouth. He didn't know why Abby wouldn't have told Griffin about him, but he wasn't going to spill the secret if she wanted to keep it.

"So, what's the plan?" Hatter asked.

"Well, step one is…ah." Griffin said with a smile before pulling his arm back through the bars and pulling the door with his other hand. It swung into the cell, letting him out. "…freedom. You're a lucky man, Hatter. You're getting out today."

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><p>Author's note: Thank you for reading and please review. I really enjoy reading your thoughts and opinions and am open to all criticism.<p>

Kelleyj: Thank you again for your review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.


	8. Chapter 7 - Flight

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin.

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><p>It took a while for the Scarab to get back to the castle. It took even longer since Abby knew she couldn't hurt Cillian for what he'd done and for what he'd tried to do. Everyone in the flying machine was silent for the rest of the trip after Abby slapped Cillian. When they finally arrived back at the castle, a suit came running out to them.<p>

"The prisoners have escaped." He said. Number ten immediately followed the suit. Abby tried to follow them to see if she could figure out where Griffin and Hatter would have gone, but the other suits in the Scarab held her back.

"Escort the prince and Abigail back to her room and keep guard." Number ten said before he was completely out of the machine. The other suits nodded and waited for the two suits to rush off before they allowed Abby and Cillian out of the Scarab.

"What's going on?" Abby asked one of them.

"Your dad and Griffin have escaped." Cillian replied.

"I wasn't talking to you." She said. The suits remained silent as they walked her and Cillian back to the same room that she'd woken up in. She tried asking them questions along the way, but only received answers from Cillian. "Why do you keep bringing me to this room in particular?" she asked.

"It's your room."

"Still not talking to you."

"It's still your room."

"So, what? You have a room for each and every person who has ever come to the castle?" she asked.

"Yes." Cillian replied.

"And what about when you run out of rooms?" Abby asked.

"We build another floor." He said as the doors closed behind them with the suits on the other side.

"Hm. I'm still not talking to you." She said.

"Come on, this is childish."

"You tried to push me through the mirror."

"I was trying to keep you safe."

"By pushing me through a mirror when you know that I want to take my father back."

"We don't always get what we want." Cillian said, turning away from Abby and shaking his head. He mumbled something about how no good deed goes unpunished.

Abby shook her head, ignoring the man as she turned as well. She figured that there had to be another exit to the room somewhere. She highly doubted that there was only one door to the room. She walked over to the glass-like wall and ran her hand along it. There was nothing. No grooves or breaks appeared on the surface of the wall. She continued around the room.

"What are you doing?" Cillian finally asked when she'd reached the third wall of the room.

Abby ignored him. She was now refusing to even say that she wasn't talking to him. Once her walk around the room was over, she just shook her head. "What kind of castle doesn't have secret passages?" she asked.

"One that builds a new floor every couple of years…" Cillian responded.

"Not talking to you." Abby said shortly before walking over to the window. She put her hand on it and pushed lightly.

"That's not gonna come out." He said.

"Well, how would you suggest we get out of here?" she asked.

"Wait until the suits have found your father and Griffin. Then we'll be free to leave." He said.

"And how long will that take?" she asked.

"It depends on how smart they are. If they've left the castle, it could take a few hours or days. If they're still here, I would assume they'll be caught in minutes." He said. Abby's stomach felt like it was tying in a knot.

On one hand, her father and Griffin could have escaped into the forest and abandoned her. On the other hand, they could be easily recaptured while trying to find her if they didn't abandon her. It made her wonder why they would have broken out so soon. Why wouldn't they have waited to find out where she was?

"And if the suits don't find them?" she asked.

"Oh, they'll find them." Cillian replied.

"Griffin said that he was in the forest for 9 months." She said.

"Well, he didn't have Hatter with him, now did he?"

"You're saying that my father is easy to catch?"

"He doesn't exactly plan very far ahead."

"You do realize that you're talking about a man who smuggled goods illegally for years without being caught, right?"

"Yes. That was during my Grandmother's reign when she really didn't care about the resistance much because they were a bit of a joke. Well, until my father joined up they were." He said.

"Hm. Well, I still think that he's probably a bit more resourceful than you think." She replied.

"Yesterday, he was caught within ten minutes of leaving the castle."

"He was letting me get away."

"He doesn't care about you. He's never even mentioned you before."

"He didn't know about me before."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. My mother found out about me after you kidnapped him."

Cillian didn't say anything after that. He seemed to give up on convincing her that her father would be easy to catch again. They were both silent for what seemed like forever. The clock in the room told Abby that it had only been a few minutes, though. She heard the suits outside the door start to talk and move around. Then it sounded like there was a fight going on in the hallway.

Abby went to open the door, but Cillian threw his weight against it to keep the door closed. "You don't know what's out there. You could get hurt." He said.

"This whole protective thing is really getting on my nerves. I can handle myself. Now, get off before I make you." Abby said, glaring at the prince who was next to her. He didn't move. Before Abby could do anything to him, the door was shoved open from the other side. Griffin and Hatter entered the room. "You came for me." Abby said, suddenly realizing how happy she was about that fact.

"Of course." Hatter replied.

"How did you know where I was?" she asked.

"Being a messenger for most of your life gives you an idea of where different people will be and when they will be there." Griffin replied. "Plus, there were about 15 guys hanging around outside this door. Figured they must be guarding something." He added. It was then that the two newcomers noticed Cillian. "What's the prince doing here?"

"I'm here to pro…"

"He's getting on my nerves." Abby interrupted.

"I'm trying to help" Cillian said.

"Sure, trying to push me through the mirror was really helpful." Abby said.

"He took you to the Looking Glass?" Hatter asked.

"Yeah." Abby said.

"Why are you still here?" he asked.

"Well, for starters, I hadn't broken you out of the dungeons yet. Also, I guess the Looking Glass is powered by some kind of ring and it had been removed." She said.

"Why would it matter that I hadn't been broken out of the dungeons yet? This is a dangerous place, Abby. You should have at least tried to leave when you had a chance." Hatter said.

"Exactly what I've been saying." Cillian responded.

"Shut it. And I couldn't just go home without you. Mom has been looking for you for years." Abby said.

"Mom?" Griffin asked.

"Yes, my mother." Abby replied.

"Alice?" Cillian asked.

"Yes, Alice…my mother." Abby said.

"Wait. Do you mean Hatter's Alice?" Griffin asked.

"Uh, shouldn't we be escaping?" Abby suddenly asked.

"Right…there are a lot of suits on the lower floors…so…" Griffin started.

"Let's take the Scarab." Cillian suggested.

"You're not coming." Abby said.

"You don't know how to pilot the Scarab." Cillian responded.

"Fine, you're coming, let's all just go before anyone comes up here." Hatter said.

Abby didn't like the idea of bringing Cillian along for the ride. She didn't like the idea of Cillian being around at all. However, now was not the time to grumble about the situation. The four of them rushed down the hall, retracing Abby and Cillian's steps to the Scarab. Once on board, Cillian immediately took off. He was not as good at piloting the machine as the suits had been which wasn't saying much.

"How did you two escape?" Abby asked once they were in the air.

"I told you it wouldn't be that difficult." Griffin responded.

"So…Hatter's Alice?" Griffin asked after a moment.

"What?" Abby asked.

"Your mother. She's Hatter's Alice?" he asked.

"What are you getting at?" Abby asked.

"Hatter is head over heels about a woman named Alice." Griffin replied.

"Yes." Abby said.

"And your mother is named Alice."

"Yes."

"So, if your mother has been looking for Hatter…he's not…no!" Griffin said.

"What?" Abby asked.

"You're her dad" Griffin said, pointing at Hatter.

"Look, before yesterday he didn't even know that I existed. So, let's stop with this right now." Abby said.

"That explains why you were so belligerent about getting him out." Griffin said.

"Belligerent?" Hatter asked.

"Yeah, I offered to take her to a rabbit hole and she refused saying that she had to get you out first." Griffin replied.

"Abby. You should have left! Why'd you come back for me?" Hatter asked, angry.

"Because mom has been looking for you for my entire life." Abby replied.

"So?" Hatter asked.

"I couldn't just leave you here when I could bring you back." She said.

"Yes. Yes you could. It would've been very easy." Hatter said.

While the three of them were going back and forth, none of them were paying attention to Cillian. Cillian happened to be flying them toward the city. However, he looked like he was stressed about something. It wasn't until they got close to the city that Abby even looked in his direction. "Cillian? You're a bit…pale and sweaty…" she remarked.

"Cillian? You're on a first name basis, huh?" Griffin asked. Abby ignored him.

"Well, I've never flown the Scarab by myself before and…I can't quite remember a few things." He said.

"What can't you remember?" Abby asked as she feared the worst.

"How to land." He said.

"Great…just great…" she said. "There has to be a way to slow down, right?" she asked.

"Yes."

"So just slow down and…aim to be parallel to the ground?" she said. She had no idea how to go about landing anything either. She had a feeling that her suggestion wouldn't really help them.

"We're crashing? I knew we shouldn't have let him come along." Griffin said.

"We have a while to figure out what to do." Cillian said. "We won't reach the city for another fifteen or twenty minutes."

"Why are we going to the city?" Abby asked.

"That's where the Looking Glass is." Cillian replied as if that was the silliest question in the world.

"Cillian, that ring isn't there! It won't work!" she said. Abby was beyond frustrated with the Prince of Hearts.

"There's still a chance that it could work." He said.

"No, there really isn't." Hatter replied. He seemed about as frustrated as Abby was.

"Well, what would you suggest?" he asked.

"The rabbit hole" Griffin, Abby and Hatter all said in unison.

"Fine. Where is the rabbit hole?" Cillian asked.

"It's in the middle of the woods somewhere." Griffin said.

"You don't know where it is?" Cillian asked.

"Well, I would if we were on the ground." Griffin replied. "What do you care anyway? You're just going to go back to your shiny castle." He asked.

"I can't" Cillian said.

"What?" Abby asked.

"I'm a traitor. I'm helping the three of you escape. My father can overlook me trying to push Abby through the mirror, but he won't be able to forgive this." He said.

"You're his son. You'd be surprised just how forgiving he can be." Hatter said. Suddenly, he seemed less frustrated with the man piloting the Scarab.

"Ha. He's about as bad off now as I hear my Grandmother was when she was ruling Wonderland. He's more interested in keeping power than being a good leader. That's why the Queen has gotten so many people on her side." Cillian said.

"Why would people turn to the Queen? Wasn't she a bit infamous for beheading people?" Abby asked.

"A lot has changed in the last twenty years. Some people miss the effects that the tea had on them. Some people think she's turned over a new leaf. Some probably just haven't been around long enough to truly know how bad it was back then." Hatter replied.

"Griffin said that she's gotten even worse since she was overthrown." Abby said.

"She has." Griffin said.

"You don't even know how she was before. You weren't even born yet." Hatter said.

"I have ears. I've heard how she was." He said.

"Let's get back to the real issue. The city's getting closer and I still don't remember how to land." Cillian said.

"Why are we still going to the city?" Griffin asked.

"Because I still don't know how to land." He said.

"Shouldn't we not be going to the city then? Shouldn't we be avoiding people if we're going to crash?" Abby asked.

"I don't know about you, but I don't think crashing into some trees is a good idea." Cillian said.

"There's a lake before the city. Crash there." Hatter said.

"Scarab isn't air tight." Cillian said.

"Yeah, it'll sink. We can still get out." Hatter said. "Just crash there. It's on the edge of the forest. We'll be able to find the rabbit hole from there." He added when Cillian looked like he was going to protest.

"Fine" Cillian said. Abby wasn't quite sure that the lake was the best option, though, when Scarab started to plunge toward the water's surface. Abby, Hatter and Griffin had all lost their footing. Hatter ended up on the ground at the front of the machine. Griffin managed to stay on his feet and ended up supporting himself on the edge of the window. Abby, who had been standing behind Cillian's seat, was now using the seat to support herself. Cillian was the only one who wasn't affected by the sudden plunge because of the harness he was wearing.

"Shouldn't we be…not heading straight down?" Abby asked frantically.

"I'll pull up when we're closer." Cillian said. Closer ended up coming quite quickly and Cillian pulled up just like he said he would. "You should all brace yourselves." He said as Hatter pulled himself off the floor.

Abby grabbed Cillian's chair and Hatter and Griffin flattened themselves against the front of the machine. One large jolt followed by some smaller ones and Scarab was sinking. Cillian took off his harness as quickly as possible while Griffin and Hatter broke the windshield of Scarab. Water rushed in as the four of them tried to swim out. It was difficult, but each of them was able to get out. They each broke the surface of the water within a few seconds. After swimming to shore, the four of them looked at each other. All of them were bleeding from small cuts that they got from when the glass broke.

"So, where is the rabbit hole?" Cillian asked.

"We'll be walking for a while. You might want to brace yourself, Princey" Griffin said. He obviously did not appreciate that Cillian had come with them. Abby wondered if he might dislike Cillian as much as she did. It made sense since Cillian was why Griffin had been living in the forest for months on end.

"Let's get going." Hatter said. He seemed nervous about having both Cillian and Griffin in the same area.

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><p>Author's note: I don't really like this chapter. I've kept rewriting it and I've come to the conclusion that there really is no correct way to do this chapter and that the best thing to do is to just get past it. I'm sorry that it's not that good and is very heavy on dialogue.<p>

As always, please review. I love to hear what you have to say.

kelleyj: Even I don't trust Cillian all that much. But we're kinda stuck with him for a while. I hope you enjoyed the chapter even though it's not the best.


	9. Chapter 8 - An Old Friend

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin and nothing else.

* * *

><p>As the group walked in the forest, Hatter and Cillian maneuvered toward the front while Griffin and Abby stayed a bit behind. Abby still didn't like having Cillian along for the ride. She didn't even know exactly what he was planning. What? Was he going to go to New York and work in fast food? She couldn't see that happening. He, however, was certain that he would be severely punished for helping them to escape if he returned to the castle. Also, there wasn't really a way to leave him now.<p>

"Why do you seem to hate him about as much as I do?" Griffin suddenly whispered to Abby.

"He tried to push me through the mirror." Abby whispered back harshly.

"Must not have pushed too hard. You don't have a scratch or bruise on you." Griffin replied in his hushed voice.

"Well…no. He didn't push me hard. That's not the point. You can't just do what he did when the person you're doing it to is saying no." Abby whispered back.

"You're acting like he assaulted you."

"He practically did."

"Abby. I may not agree with his methods, but at least he was trying to protect you."

"I don't need protection. And you don't know that. He probably just wanted a free kiss before getting rid of me to ruin his dad's plan."

"Kiss?" Griffin said in a normal voice. He seemed very surprised by the slip of Abby's tongue.

"Forget it. It was just…how he distracted me when he tried to push me through the mirror." Abby whispered. She kept a close eye on Hatter and Cillian to make sure that they hadn't heard Griffin. They were a fair distance ahead of them, but she just knew that they had to hear that. Neither of them turned around though.

"So, you just let him kiss you. Have you even known him for more than a day?" Griffin asked in a hushed voice again.

"I didn't _let_ him kiss me. He just did it. I was cornered and didn't have anywhere to go." She replied.

"Right. Because no one would want to kiss a prince."

"Shhh. Look, it was nothing. It's not like I wanted him to." Abby replied. She wasn't even sure why she was defending herself. After all, she didn't do anything wrong. She wasn't the one who kissed an almost complete stranger.

It was at this point that Hatter looked back at them. "Oi, come on. It's gonna be dark soon." He shouted at them. Abby looked over at Griffin momentarily before jogging to catch up to Hatter and Cillian. Griffin was right behind her.

"We won't be able to find the rabbit hole at night." Griffin said.

"Well, we could. But no, we're not going to look for it tonight. I know someone who lives not too far from here. Well, he used to not live too far from here. We're gonna try to get to him before nightfall." Hatter said.

"Who? Who do you know who lives in the forest?" Griffin asked.

"Just an old friend." Hatter said before continuing in the direction they'd been walking. They walked for quite a while. At least it felt like forever because Abby kept glancing at Griffin who seemed to be continuously glaring at Cillian. Abby kept her mouth shut tightly, though. She did not want to start up that conversation again at any cost. She was already kicking herself enough about slipping up about that stupid kiss to Griffin, she didn't need her father to find out about it.

"So…" Griffin started and Abby could feel a lump form in her throat because it seemed like he was directing the comment toward Cillian. "How about we forgive and forget that whole…poisoning incident." He finished.

"You tried to kill me. That's not something that can be forgiven."

"I did not try to kill you. I was delivering your food." Griffin said angrily.

"Then why hasn't there been another attempt yet?" Cillian asked.

"There's probably no scapegoat now. Plus, I'd guess that you have your food tasted." He replied.

Abby couldn't see since Cillian was in front of her, but she assumed that he was rolling his eyes. "Let's not talk about this right now." Abby said. Griffin shot her a look that said that he had more to say. She just shook her head at him.

"I agree. We should stop talking about things that would make us angry at one another." Hatter said.

"Like how Princey here…" Griffin started and Abby stomped on his foot causing him to shout.

Hatter stopped walking, immediately turning around. Cillian turned around a bit slower than Hatter. While Hatter looked at Griffin to see what was wrong Cillian was looking at Abby. She stared right back at him. She didn't want to start a conflict, but she knew that saying anything would. So, she kept quiet.

"What's wrong?" Hatter asked.

"Nothing. I just….nothing." Griffin replied.

"Well, if nothing's done happinin, we need to get going." Hatter replied. He then turned and started walking again. "Come on, it's going to be dark soon." He said.

He was right. The sun hung low in the sky when a loud voice rang out from the forest. "Halt trespassers. How dare you…Harbinger?" Abby looked at where the noise came from quickly. She saw an old man with a wiry white beard wearing very beat up and rusty armor.

"Charlie" Hatter said obviously very happy to see the old man.

"Charlie?" Abby asked.

"Just Alice?" the man asked, but then he squinted his eyes at her. "No, no…you can't be Just Alice. You look…who are you?" he asked in a loud voice.

"I'm Abby." Abby replied.

"Charlie, we need to stay with you for the night." Hatter said, getting straight down to the point.

"Well of course you can stay with me. I just trapped a borogove. There will be enough for everyone." The knight said.

"I thought that all the knights were wiped out ages ago." Cillian said.

"Well, you thought wrong." Charlie replied. "Follow me." He said, turning.

"He's…a bit off." Griffin muttered to Abby as they started walking again.

Abby had to agree, but she still didn't say anything. She just walked. Eventually, they reached a hill where they could see where they were going. Abby gasped and her jaw dropped slightly when she saw the sight. It looked like there were giant chess pieces in the distance. She assumed that they were buildings. Nevertheless, it was beautiful under the sunset. The rest of the group started forward again while Abby was still looking at the buildings.

Suddenly, she realized that everyone was moving on and she rushed to catch up. They reached an area with some wooden structures. None of the structures had walls. There was also what looked like a fire pit near the middle of the structures.

-Three Hours Later-

Everyone was eating roasted borogove around a fire. Hatter was talking about how he and Alice had been in this very spot when she had been in Wonderland. He was smiling, but he looked a bit sad. Abby almost wanted to ask what was wrong, but it seemed like he was sadder every time he looked her way. She had no way of knowing that he was sad because he hadn't been around to see her grow, that he hadn't even known about her.

After Hatter's story, everyone was silent for a while. "So, where is the rabbit hole?" Abby asked.

"It's hard to describe. It's just easier to go there." Griffin said.

"Well, you had to find it." Abby said.

"Yeah, I found it because I've spent the better part of the last three years in this forest." Griffin said.

Cillian glared across the fire at Griffin who caught the look.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't try to kill you." He said.

"Sure." Cillian said.

"At least I don't shove my tongue down the throat of every woman I meet." Griffin said. Abby nearly choked on the bite that she'd just taken. She coughed a few times as Hatter looked between Griffin and Cillian before looking at her and then back to Cillian. He pieced two and two together quickly.

"You what?" he asked turning to Cillian. There was a threatening undertone to his voice and Cillian looked around the group before trying to explain.

"I, well, I uh. I don't know what he's talking about." He said.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." Griffin said. He glanced at Abby briefly before glaring at Cillian again.

"No, I'm sure that I don't." Cillian said.

"Since Princey seems to have developed amnesia, what do you have to say Abby?" Griffin asked as he turned to Abby.

"I…he tried to push me through the mirror." She said.

"Yeah, we know that." Hatter said.

"He kissed her." Griffin said angrily. That was when Charlie came up to the group.

"There's plenty more borogove to go around. Anyone?" he asked. He was obviously trying to change the subject.

"Cillian, could I have a word?" Hatter asked. He stood and headed away from the fire. Cillian glared across the fire at Griffin for a moment before following Hatter.

"Borogove?"

"No thanks, Charlie." Abby said.

"I gave him a chance." Griffin said.

"What?"

"All he had to do was let go of the past." He replied.

"…when you asked him to forgive you…" Abby said with a sigh as she remembered the earlier conversation.

"Yeah. I figured that if he could be a decent guy, then I would be. He couldn't be a decent guy." He said. Suddenly both of them jumped as they heard a shout. They looked over to where Hatter and Cillian were. Cillian was on the ground holding his face. Hatter still had his right hand clenched and was walking back to the fire.

"What the…what just happened?" Abby shouted. She didn't like Cillian, but she didn't think he deserved to be punched.

"Nothing. Let's all get to sleep. We have a long day tomorrow." Hatter said. Cillian was already picking himself up off the ground.

"You used the sledgehammer on him? And he's getting back up?" Griffin asked.

"I didn't use full force." Hatter muttered. He then looked at Abby, "There's a bed over there that you can sleep on." He said, pointing behind him. She assumed it was where her mother had slept when she was here.

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><p>Author's note: Figured I'd put out another chapter really quickly since I had time to do some writing. Couldn't have Cillian still walking around without someone hitting him. That kiss is going to haunt him for a while. As always, please review. I love to hear what you have to say.<p>

kelleyj: I'm sure Charlie wasn't the person you were expecting them to run into. Anyway, as always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I probably won't be able to get the next chapter out for about a week, though.


	10. Chapter 9 - Just a Walk in the Woods

Disclaimer: I only own Abby, Cillian and Griffin. Everything else belongs to Syfy.

Note: Sorry the beginning of this chapter is a bit confusing. Just wanted to mention that stuff happened while Abby was asleep that she doesn't know about yet.

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><p>In the morning, the group headed out again. They said a quick farewell to Charlie who asked many times if they would need his assistance. Hatter politely declined each time and said that that wouldn't be necessary. He knew that Charlie was much older than he appeared and that was saying something. He also knew that Charlie had seen enough action in his life. He wanted to let Charlie live out the rest of his days in peace. He wanted to allow Charlie the opportunity to do what he loved to do, invent things.<p>

So, they left after a fairly short goodbye to the last surviving knight. Hatter didn't seem happy about leaving him behind, but the entire group knew that it was for the best. They walked in silence for a very long time. Abby didn't know exactly how long because she never wore a watch, but she knew it was much longer than she liked to go in silence.

"So, Charlie is the same knight that helped you when mom came here?" she asked Hatter who just nodded in response. "Mom always said that he helped to defeat the Queen. That he set up some huge distraction." She said trying to prompt a reply. Nothing was said in return. Abby didn't quite know what was wrong or how to fix it. She looked over her shoulder at Griffin who was just staring off into space as he walked. She then glanced at Cillian who occasionally sent glares in Griffin's direction.

Cillian was now sporting a very black eye. In fact, the entire left side of his face was swollen and purple from the punch he'd taken the night before. He was walking to Griffin's left so that he could keep his good eye on the fellow traveler.

"So, when we get to the rabbit hole, is everyone coming back to New York?" Abby asked. She knew that Cillian was probably going to follow her and Hatter, but she didn't know about Griffin. He seemed to figure out quickly that she was asking about him because he turned his head to look at her as they walked.

"I don't know…" was all that he said in return.

"Okay then." Abby replied. They continued on in silence for quite a while. Eventually, Hatter stopped the group. He didn't say anything, but he was standing as still as he could. He was looking around carefully.

"What?" Abby asked.

"Sh." Was his only response.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked.

"Just be quiet." Hatter responded quickly. Abby opened her mouth to make a comeback, but a hand had reached from behind her to cover it. "Get her out of here." Hatter suddenly said as Abby started to struggle. She elbowed whoever was holding their hand over her mouth because they had now started to pull her away. He let go with a groan and Hatter turned around. "Abby, go." He said, obviously angry.

Abby was just confused as a set of hands grabbed her arms and pulled her backward. "We need to go." Griffin said in her ear.

"But Hatter!" she said, struggling. It was no use Griffin's grip was so tight that she was probably going to be bruised.

"Up the tree." He said, turning her around to face the tree that he'd selected.

"I can't just leave my dad." She said. It was too late to climb the tree though Griffin wasn't willing to give up. If there was a way to drag her up into the tree he probably would have taken it. When Abby struggled and looked over his shoulder, her father was gone and Cillian was being pulled away from them. It looked like the Queen's suits, but Abby couldn't be sure. "Cillian, Hatter." She said. Griffin looked back to see what was happening. He then seemed to make a new decision.

Suddenly, Abby was being hauled over Griffin's shoulder and he was running. She was struggling to get out of his grasp, but he was much stronger than he looked. "I'm trying to save your life. Quit squirming." Griffin said roughly as he ran.

"No, we have to go back!" Abby said. "We can't just let them be dragged off into the woods!"

"We can and we will." Griffin said. Abby could see suits following them. She was sure that they would be caught anyway.

"There's no way to get away! They're right behind us." She said.

"You should trust me." He replied.

"Why are you trying so hard right now? It's not like we haven't been caught before." She said.

Griffin didn't reply he just ran faster. He took turns as he ran through the forest and was slowly getting away from the suits. Abby just kept looking behind them at the suits even though it was making her dizzy. Suddenly, it felt like the world was falling out from under them. Abby let out a scream as she was dropped to the ground. Griffin quickly put a hand over her mouth. There was no light where they were. Neither of them could see anything. Abby could, however, hear the suits above them.

"I saw them come this way."

"I heard her scream."

"They couldn't have gone far."

"Keep looking."

Abby pushed Griffin's hand away from her mouth. She tried to look around but there was no way to see. "What are they doing?" she asked.

"Sh. We need to be quiet." Griffin whispered.

"I heard something over here."

"We've looked over there."

-One Hour Later…roughly-

The suits had quit talking a while ago. However, Griffin wouldn't let Abby ask him anything. "Oh, come on. They're not still out there. We need to go and save Hatter." She said.

"No!" Griffin replied. He wasn't whispering anymore.

"Why not?" Abby asked.

"Abby, he wants you to be safe. He wants you to go home and be safe." Griffin said.

"I don't care what he wants. He's going to die if the Queen gets her way." Abby replied.

"I'm sure he will." Griffin said but he didn't sound convincing.

"We need to go." Abby said trying to get up.

"Abby I…" he trailed off.

"We really need to go. We need to get out of here and go rescue him." She said. She had managed to stand and was feeling the inside of wherever they were. She couldn't feel a way to get out though. "Let me out of here." She said.

"Abby, you need to calm down." Griffin said.

"No, I need to leave." She said. "I need to save Hatter."

"We need to wait and make sure that the coast is clear." He said.

"No one is talking up there. No one is walking around up there. They gave up! Now, get up and help me get out of here." She said. "Where is here?" she asked.

"It's a hiding spot that I found last year. You need to calm down." He said.

"Calm down? I need to save Hatter. For all I know, the Queen's already executed him by now." She said angrily. "Now, help me get out of here."

Griffin sighed. Abby heard something move and then there was light. They were in a hole that had been dug into the roots of a tree. Abby had known that it was cramped, but seeing it now made her feel even more cramped. There had barely been room for the two of them. She quickly climbed out of the hole and turned as Griffin climbed out.

"Where would they be? Where did they go? Where is the Queen?" she asked ready to go on with more questions. Griffin put his hands on her shoulders, though.

"We'll find him, okay? We'll find Hatter. Hell, we'll even rescue your boyfriend. Just calm down." He said.

"Boyfriend?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, Princey." Griffin replied. That certainly helped to calm Abby down because she was too stunned with confusion to be anxious.

"Cillian?" she asked. "What makes you think I like him?"

"Look, let's just go." Griffin said turning and starting off into the forest.

"No, really, what would indicate that I like Cillian?" she asked as she followed him.

"It's nothing. Look, we need to not get caught here. So, you should keep your voice down. The suits are probably still around." He said. He hadn't even looked at her.

"Okay, there has been some sort of weird problem with everyone today. What is this about?" she asked.

"Just be quiet" Griffin said.

"No, I won't be quiet. Why would you think I like Cillian?" she asked.

"He kissed you and he's still standing. You looked concerned when your father hit him…" Griffin started.

"I'm not a violent person. I may defend myself, but I don't like anyone getting hurt." She said.

"Sure, whatever. Let's just go rescue them, yeah?" he asked.

Abby just continued walking behind Griffin until he started acting strange. "What?" she asked quietly.

"We're close. Watch out for the suits." he said. Abby just nodded and followed him. She could see the clearing ahead. There were a lot of suits hanging around. "We need a plan." He said.

"I don't see him. Would she have him in that building that we were taken to?" she asked.

"I'm sure they haven't been executed yet, if that's what you're wondering." Griffin replied.

Abby nodded, looking around the clearing from the bush that they were hiding in near the edge of the clearing. They seemed to be congregating on the opposite side of the clearing. "Maybe we should go around there and see what's happening." She said.

"No, the more we move around, the less likely it is that we won't be caught." He said.

"So how are we going to find my dad?" she asked.

"The Queen will have them locked up in one of those buildings." Griffin said nodding his head toward the row of buildings that they had been in before. Abby stared at the buildings before looking back over at the majority of the suits.

"We could sneak around back like I did to get you out." She said.

"No we can't. They'll have suits back there. We won't be able to get at them the same way you did last time. They may be stupid, but they still learn from their mistakes." He said.

"Then how will we get them out?" she asked.

"We've got to be patient. They don't execute people in the clearing. There's an area a few miles away that they take their prisoners to. It's near where the Jabberwock lives. That's where they execute their prisoners." He said.

"Wait, so they turn their prisoners into Jabberwock food?" she asked feeling like she was going to be sick.

"Yeah. It's effective. They don't have to deal with getting rid of the bodies." He said.

"How do they know the Jabberwock won't just kill them?" she asked.

"They go there when it's sleeping. It sleeps from a few hours before sundown to a few hours before sunrise." He said.

"So how long is it going to be?" she asked.

Griffin looked up to figure out about what time it might be. "I'd say about three hours or so. Come on, let's get away from here for now." He said. Abby didn't want to leave, but she trusted Griffin to have a plan.

Once they were far enough away, she looked at him. "So, what are we going to do?" she asked. She just knew that he had to have a plan. She could tell that they'd been curving around. She was sure that he was making it so that they would be able to hide along the path that the suits would take.

"We're going to wait until they come through here. They will come through here and we will rescue your father and Princey." He said.

"Why can't you just say his name?" she asked.

"Fine, we'll rescue Hatter and Princey." He replied.

"You know what I meant." She said.

"Cillian is the Prince of Hearts. I am a messenger boy. People like me are not allowed to be on a first name basis with people like him. It's actually a punishable offense. I know I've slipped up, but I still should follow the laws that we have." He said.

"Oh…even so, he's on the run. He's not really a prince anymore, is he?" she asked.

"Yes, he still is a prince." He said.

"Still, I doubt that it matters." She said.

"It matters." He said.

"Where do you think would be a good place to wait?" Abby asked trying to change the subject.

"We'll probably stop soon. We don't want to get too close to the Jabberwock's territory." Griffin replied. "Wouldn't want it making us lunch." He added.

"Right." She said.

"Plus, if we were to get too far into the Jabberwock's territory, then they probably wouldn't even pass us." He said.

"Why not?" Abby asked.

"The suits don't go very far into the Jabberwock's territory. They stay near the edge of it so that they aren't in too much danger." He replied.

"Ah, they're cowards." She replied.

"Yes." He said. "I could've sworn I've mentioned that before." He said. They walked for a little bit more before Griffin stopped. "This is good. We should wait here. Actually, we should wait up there." He said, pointing up into the trees. Abby sighed, but she knew he was right. They would be able to see more from up in the tree.

-Four hours later-

Abby and Griffin were still sitting up in the trees, waiting.

"Do you think we missed them?" she asked.

"No" Griffin replied.

"They haven't come by. They wouldn't have gone somewhere else would they?" she asked.

"No, they always come this way." He said.

"They wouldn't have executed him there would they?" she asked.

"No, they wouldn't want to deal with the bodies." He replied.

"There has to be some reason that we haven't seen them." Abby said. She started wondering what could have happened to make the suits not bring Hatter and Cillian this way.

"Maybe they escaped before they got too far. Maybe the Queen isn't going to execute them. Maybe they're a trap for you." Griffin replied and Abby looked at him. "It would be the easiest way to get you." He said.

"Why would she want me so badly?" Abby asked.

"She thinks you're Alice's daughter." He said.

"I am Alice's daughter." Abby said.

"Exactly. She wants to eliminate you before you follow in your mother's footsteps. Hatter might not have let it slip that you're his daughter, but I doubt that Princey would have held his tongue." He said.

"Just call him Cillian" Abby said.

"Why? Don't like me making fun of your boyfriend?" Griffin asked.

"I don't like him. I just…it's really annoying." She said. Griffin just smiled and nodded.

"Let's start heading back toward the clearing. Maybe we'll be able to figure out what's going on" he said.

"If it's a trap shouldn't we not go back?" she asked.

"No, we shouldn't go back. However, you're going to demand we go back." He replied.

"What?" Abby asked.

"If we don't go back to the clearing, we'll be going to the rabbit hole" he said.

"No we won't." Abby said. She didn't see why they would have to go to the rabbit hole if they weren't going to try to walk into a trap.

"Yes, we will." He replied.

"Why would we do that?" she asked.

"Because your father asked me to." Griffin said. Abby stared at him, confused. "He asked me to make sure you were alright and to make sure you got home no matter what. He'd already be trying to kill me if he knew that I hadn't taken you straight to the rabbit hole." He said.

Abby just let her jaw drop slightly. "But I won't just leave him." She said.

"Exactly why I haven't asked you to." Griffin replied. "Come on, let's go try to save your dad the stupid way." He said.

"What?" Abby asked.

"I'm going to get caught again." Griffin said simply. "I'm going to get caught and you're going to hide in the forest and wait for me." He added.

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><p>Author's note: Yeah, I totally sluffed off homework to write this chapter...it's that annoying halfway mark in the semester and I just wanted to concentrate on something else for a bit. So, enjoy.<p>

As always, please review. I love to hear what you have to say.


	11. Chapter 10 - Lies

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin and nothing else.

Note: This chapter will mainly follow Griffin's perspective because, quite frankly, it would be pretty boring from Abby's.

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><p>Griffin looked back toward the area that they were leaving a few times. Abby figured that it was just to make sure that the Jabberwock wasn't behind them. She had no idea that thoughts of taking her back there were running through his head. The rabbit's hole was past the Jabberwock's territory and he knew that Hatter would probably kill him when he found out that Griffin had ignored his wishes.<p>

"You need to climb that tree." Griffin said when he felt that they were close enough to the clearing.

"But.." Abby said.

"No buts. Climb that tree and wait. It might take a while, but I will be back with them." He said. Abby just shook her head and turned with a sigh.

"How long?" she asked.

"If I'm not back before tomorrow night, you'll need to turn around and go back the way we came. You'll need to go through the Jabberwock's territory and the rabbit hole is on the other side…" he said.

"Where on the other side?" she asked turning back to him.

"There's no real time to explain…just. It's on the other side." He said.

"How would I know when I reach the other side?" she asked.

"I…well, there are no real landmarks to indicate when you are out of the Jabberwock's territory, but the rabbit hole is near a cliff with a waterfall. It would be right there. In that area. You'll find it. Just wait until tomorrow night." He said. Abby sighed and nodded. She climbed the tree and prepared to stay there for the rest of the night and the entire next day as Griffin turned and continued toward the camp.

He was near the camp when the suits saw him. He only put up a little bit of a fight in order to not seem unrealistic. Within a few minutes, his hands were tied and he was being led into the camp. He was brought directly to the Queen.

"Well, well, we meet again." The Queen said. "Where's the girl?" she asked.

"How should I know?" He replied.

"My suits saw her escape with you earlier when they captured the Hatter and my grandson." She said.

"Yeah? If they saw us, then how did we escape?" he asked.

"They did and you did. Now I want to know what happened after you escaped." She replied.

"I'm sure you do. You're not going to find out from me." Griffin replied.

"We'll see about that." The Queen replied and then waved a hand at the suit that had brought Griffin in. The suit dragged him out of the room and pulled into another building. Griffin looked around, figuring that he would be thrown in with Hatter and Cillian. However, all he saw were tools. He knew what was about to happen and he forced himself to swallow.

-Some Time Later-

Pain ripped through Griffin again as a hook was shoved into his side. He wasn't giving his torturer the satisfaction of hearing him scream, but he couldn't stop a groan from escaping his tightly clenched mouth.

"Where is the girl?" the man asked.

"Fed her to the Jabberwock. Figured it would want the meal." He muttered. It was about the millionth lie he'd told.

Another sharp instrument was shoved into his side.

"Where is she?" he asked again.

"Shoved her up a tree." Griffin said after another pained groan.

This pattern continued for a while. Finally, Griffin cried out in pain. It had become too unbearable. "Where is the girl?" the man asked.

"I sent her back to her world. Hatter made me promise to get her back to her world. I took her to the rabbit hole. That's why it took so long for me to get back here." Griffin said. It was a lie that he hadn't said yet. His torturer smiled and turned, nodding to a suit that stood in the doorway.

"Was that so hard to say?" the man asked as he started to wrap the wounds he'd inflicted.

"What are you doing?" Griffin asked.

"The Queen wants you alive." He said.

"What for?" Griffin asked. The torturer didn't respond. He just wrapped the wounds that he'd inflicted. He knew his trade well and he knew how to inflict pain without causing major damage. Griffin would heal just fine even with all of the damage that he'd sustained.

"Take him to the others." He said. Griffin was then pulled out into the sunlight. It had to be at least noon if not later. He wondered about the time as he was dragged to yet another small building where he was dumped on the floor.

"Griffin?" Hatter's voice called out and suddenly Hatter was kneeling over the younger man. Griffin coughed and shook his head slightly.

"I'll be fine." He said.

"Where's Abby?" Hatter asked. "Did you get her to the rabbit hole?" he asked.

Griffin nodded, knowing that suits were probably still keeping an eye on them. Also, he knew that they wouldn't get out of there if Hatter killed him. He wanted to make sure that Abby would be able to get to the rabbit hole and lying was the only way to ensure that right then. He looked around.

"Where's Princey?" he asked.

"I don't know where they took Cillian. He's not here." Hatter replied.

"Promised I'd get the two of you out." He whispered.

"We'll figure that out later." Hatter said.

"No, we need to figure it out now. We're on a timetable." Griffin said.

"What?" Hatter asked.

"We need to get out as soon as possible." He replied. He rolled onto his side and pushing himself up. He then stood and made his way to the window. He knew it would be difficult to escape with all of the pain that he was having, but he figured that it was at least worth a try. "I wish we had some kind of distraction." He said as he looked out at the thirty or so suits going about their normal business in the clearing. He looked back at Hatter and noted that neither of their hands were bound anymore. His ropes had been cut off before his torture started and he assumed that Hatters had been removed when he was brought to this building. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Well, we can't exactly take them in a fight. But if we could take one of them hostage we might be able to get out of here." He replied. Griffin shook his head.

"I doubt that. Have you seen these guys? They seem to be dispensable even amongst themselves." He said.

"Well, I don't see us getting any kind of distraction. So, I think a hostage would be the only real way out of this situation." Hatter replied.

"The hostage would have to be the bloody Queen and we're not going to be able to even get close to her." Griffin replied.

"Not necessarily." Hatter said. Without giving Griffin any more insight into his plan, Hatter went over to the door. "Think you could pick this lock like you did with the ones in the dungeon?" he asked.

"Probably, why?" Griffin asked.

"Just do it. I think I know where we can get our ticket out of here." He said. "Try to do it as quietly as possible." He added. Griffin didn't need the suggestion. It took a little longer than it had in the dungeon, but soon the door was open and he and Hatter snuck around to the back of the buildings as quickly as they could. There were a few suits posted back there, but Hatter took them out quickly before they were able to raise any kind of alarm. "Come on, I think she'd keep him over here." He said, heading back toward the Queen's building.

Griffin had no idea what Hatter was thinking or why they didn't just escape into the forest right then. Soon, however, he figured out the plan. Hatter was kidnapping Cillian. This plan essentially killed two birds with one stone. They would get Cillian out of the camp and they would have an 'insurance policy' against any suits that might come after them because it was obvious that the Queen wanted to keep Cillian not only alive, but well. He ended up being in a back room of the building that the Queen always seemed to inhabit. It was a small living area that even had a bed.

Cillian seemed happy to see them even if Griffin wasn't exactly his favorite person. "Come on, Princey, we're getting out of here." Griffin said as Hatter hauled Cillian out of the room.

"Figured you would have left me." Cillian remarked.

"We're not going to be moving very fast so we're going to need something to keep the suits from following us. Figured threatening your life would be a good motivator as the Queen seems to like you." Griffin muttered.

"Right, well, let's get going then. Where's Abby?" he asked.

"In her world." Hatter said as they headed into the forest.

"Right. I didn't think that Griffin would actually do it." Cillian responded. He was referring to the conversation they'd had the night before last. Abby had gone to bed and Hatter had woken both him and Griffin. He'd known that they were going to be going through the Jabberwock's territory. He made both Griffin and Cillian promise that if anything happened to him that they would get Abby to the rabbit hole.

The suits noticed that they were missing. They could tell because there was suddenly a lot of shouting from the camp. "I was hoping that wouldn't happen for a little while longer." Hatter said. He looked at Griffin. "Give me your knife. This will have to be convincing if find us." He said. A concerned look crossed Cillian's face.

"What will have to be convincing?" he asked.

"We've kidnapped you. You'll need to look all imperiled and…scared…" Hatter replied.

"Right."

"Let's try to get out of the area. We'll need to circle around to the other side to get to the rabbit hole." Griffin said.

Hatter started walking, continuing in the direction they had been going after being handed the knife. "There should be another hole in this direction. We might even be closer to it with this detour." He said.

"We really need to go to the other one." Griffin replied.

"This one will probably be less dangerous." Hatter said.

"It probably won't go to the same place…." Griffin said.

"We'll be able to find her. I know we'll be able to find her." Hatter said.

"No, you really won't…"

"Why not?"

"…because we didn't exactly go all the way to the rabbit hole…" he said. Hatter rounded on him.

"What?"

"Abby's hiding in a tree around on the other side of the clearing…waiting for us to come back." He said.

"You said she was back with the Oysters. You said you took her to the rabbit hole."

"I lied in case the suits were listening." Griffin said. They didn't have time to argue because a suit caught sight of them. Hatter turned quickly after hearing the suit call for others to come. He wrapped one arm around Cillian's chest and the other arm was holding the knife to his throat.

"Imperiled and scared…" he muttered into Cillian's ear and Cillian just nodded. The suit stopped in his tracks and so did the others when they arrived. "You're going to let us go or the Prince here is going to be a stuck pig. Got it?" Hatter shouted. The suits looked at the three of them seeming to gauge what they should do. Apparently, they valued Cillian's life over their capture because they retreated.

Hatter waited until they were out of sight to take the knife away from Cillian's throat. "That actually worked?" Cillian asked.

"Apparently." Griffin muttered.

"The Queen was keeping you in her own home. You're important to her. They wouldn't risk your life because theirs would end." Hatter replied. He then turned on Griffin, holding the knife toward him threateningly. "You lied about taking Abby back." He said.

"I didn't want the Queen to find out that she was still here." Griffin replied. "She would have sent all of the suits out to find her."

"You should have just taken her to the rabbit hole to begin with." Hatter said.

"Have you met your daughter? She wouldn't go without you. She nearly took my head off for keeping her from being caught when you two were." Griffin replied.

"You promised me that you would get her to the rabbit hole." Hatter said.

"I…she didn't want to go without you. She wanted to save you…again." Griffin said. Hatter narrowed his eyes and then turned the knife around, handing it to Griffin.

"Don't lie to me again or I will use it next time." Hatter said. "Let's go find Abby." He said.

Abby wasn't difficult to find since Griffin knew the way to where he'd left her. They had a couple more run-ins with suits which ended similarly to the first. By the time they reached Abby, they were far enough away from the camp that they didn't have to worry about the suits anymore.

"Oh my God, what happened?!" Abby nearly shouted when she saw Griffin. He was still bruised and beaten.

"This? It's nothing…looks much worse than it is." He replied.

"Let's just get to the rabbit hole." Cillian said.

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><p>Author's note: Thank you for sticking with this story so far. This was an interesting chapter to write and I hope that you enjoy it even with Griffin's torture. Don't worry, he's not too hurt. As always, please review. I appreciate all criticism.<p>

kelleyj: Thank you for your review. I hope this chapter was as enjoyable for you as the others have been.


	12. Chapter 11 - Truth

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin and nothing else.

Special Note: I am so sorry for the delay! I've been having a lot of homework. This hasn't changed because the semester is coming to an end I actually have more homework. So, I might not update until after the 15th. However, thank you for sticking with me.

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><p>Hatter agreed with Cillian that they should start for the rabbit hole right away before the suits got up the nerve to follow them. Abby, however, wasn't convinced that this was the smartest idea.<p>

"What about the Jabberwock? Shouldn't we wait until it's asleep?" she asked.

Hatter shook his head. "It will be hours before the Jabberwock goes to sleep. We need to get moving now. If we're quiet, it shouldn't come after us." He said to her. Then, he turned to Griffin and Cillian. "If it does come for us, you two will need to get Abby out of there."

"What? I wouldn't leave!" Abby said.

"Yes, you would. Now, come on and be quiet. If we don't make much noise, then it shouldn't be drawn to us." He said before turning to walk into the Jabberwock's area of the forest. While Abby wanted to argue, she didn't want to be left behind as the other two immediately started following Hatter.

Abby followed the group in silence for what seemed like forever before Griffin slowed to fall into step beside her. She smiled over at him briefly before he leaned over to speak to her quietly.

"Don't worry, you'll get home safely." He said. She hadn't realized that she looked worried. It was true, though, that she was nervous about being in this part of the forest during the day.

"I know, I just…mom told me about the Jabberwock when I was a kid. It's not exactly something that I want to see for myself." She said. She had picked up on something that he'd said that disappointed her somewhat. He'd said 'you'll' get home safely instead of 'we'll.' She couldn't hide the disappointment on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. I just thought that you might want to come with. You know, escape Wonderland. After all, you are helping us get to the rabbit hole. Why go to all that trouble if you're not going to come with us?" she asked quietly.

Griffin sighed. "This is my home, Abby. I'm not going to just leave. I want to make sure you get back to your world safely." He whispered.

"Oh. You don't have to. I mean, this is dangerous. You don't need to be putting yourself in danger." She replied.

"I told you, I want to make sure you get back to your world safely." He said. They walked on in silence for another few minutes.

"But why?" she suddenly asked, forgetting to be quiet.

"Sh" Griffin said as Cillian and Hatter turned around.

"Sorry." Abby whispered.

"Maybe one of you should walk up here?" Hatter asked.

Griffin shook her head. "We'll stop talking." He whispered back. Hatter didn't seem to like that response, but all he did was narrow his eyes slightly at Griffin before turning and starting to walk again.

"Sorry" Abby whispered once again after they'd all started walking again.

"We really should stop talking." Griffin replied.

Abby frowned. She wanted an answer. She didn't want to just leave him behind. What if she never saw him again? He was the closest thing to a friend she had in Wonderland. He must have cared for her, too. After all, why else would he stick by her for days just to make sure that she gets home safely? They continued walking in silence for a long time before Griffin leaned toward her.

"We're almost out of the Jabberwock's territory." He whispered. "We'll probably be safe to talk in about an hour." He said quietly. Abby looked over at him. He looked troubled. Abby had a feeling that he wanted to talk more. She wanted to talk, too. After all, now she knew that the time she had with him was running out.

Abby just nodded in response. They kept walking until she heard a strange honking noise. She stopped, looking around. "What was that?" she asked, but no one responded. Well, at least they didn't respond verbally. Griffin grabbed her arm and started running, pulling her along behind him. "What are you doing?" she asked loudly, alarmed. She was shocked that he could move so quickly given how hurt he was.

"It's the Jabberwock." Griffin said. Cillian was running ahead of them, but Abby didn't see Hatter.

"Wait, where's Hatter?" she asked, looking around wildly until she caught a glimpse of him behind her, waving his arms. She struggled to get out of Griffin's grasp. "We can't leave him." She said.

"He knows what he's doing." Griffin said.

Abby managed to pull her arm away from him and stumbled before turning and running back toward Hatter. Griffin quickly caught up to her and grabbed her with both arms around the waist. Before she knew what was happening, he'd hauled her over his shoulder and she was struggling to get away again. She could see the large beast starting to chase her father. "Stop" she shouted, wriggling as Griffin started to run in the opposite direction. That shout caught the Jabberwock's attention and it stopped chasing Hatter and turned.

Once it caught sight of them, it started running for them.

"Uh, Griffin?" she asked.

"No, we can't go back."

"No, that's not it…"

"What is it then?" he asked, frustrated.

"It's chasing us" she replied.

"What?" he asked, slowing to turn. Suddenly, he put Abby down. "Run!" he shouted, grabbing her wrist and taking off at full speed away from the beast that was gaining on them. Suddenly, he turned, pulling her in a different direction. "Come on, we need to lose it." He said. Abby was running as quickly as she could, but she was still not fully able to keep up with Griffin. That was when she glanced back. The Jabberwock wasn't as close as she thought it would be. In fact, it wasn't following them anymore at all. It was standing still.

"Griffin." Abby said, slowing down. Griffin felt her slow and turned to see where she was looking.

A puzzled look crossed his face and he cocked his head to the side. "Quick, climb that tree while he's distracted." He said. Abby nodded, scrambling up the tree beside them with Griffin following close behind. "I wonder what he's trying to get." He mused as he started to try to make his way back toward where the Jabberwock was. The trees were spread out, though, so he didn't make it far.

"You stay here, I'm going to try to see what's got him distracted." He said. He was on the ground before Abby could argue.

"Griffin!" Abby said, but she stayed put. She watched Griffin carefully as he moved closer and closer to the Jabberwock. He was hiding as best he could. She expected him to come back, but instead he threw a rock at the beast and shouted before starting to run again. He was running away from her and the Jabberwock was following him. "Griffin!" she shouted.

Within moments, Cillian was shouting at her from the forest floor. "Abby, come on." He said. Abby quickly scrambled down from her perch and started to run in the direction that Griffin was running. "Wrong way!" Cillian said, rushing after her. "Griffin distracted it so that I could get you out of here." He said.

"You were what was distracting it from that tree?" she asked, still running.

"Yeah. Now come on." Cillian replied.

"I can't just let the Jabberwock kill him. I'm the entire reason he's here." She said.

"He knows this forest better than anyone. If there's a way to get away from the Jabberwock, he'll know what it is." He said, but nothing that he could say would stop Abby from chasing after Griffin.

"Abby?" Hatter shouted, seeing her chasing the Jabberwock.

"It's after Griffin" she shouted back. She was surprised when it didn't turn and try to chase her after all that noise. However, it was determined to get Griffin.

"You need to climb!" Hatter responded. Abby just shook her head. Suddenly, the Jabberwock stopped running and Abby skidded to a stop with Cillian and Hatter behind her. "There's a trap there, Griffin will be fine, but we need to get out of sight before the Jabberwock tries to find us." He said. Abby started to protest, but Hatter grabbed her arm and turned her to look at him. "Climb!" he said, pulling her toward a tree.

Cillian had already climbed a different tree and Hatter followed Abby up the one that he'd pulled her toward. They got out of sight just as the Jabberwock turned and started running back the way they'd come. Once it was gone, Abby made her way down from the tree even though Hatter tried to stop her. She rushed over to a giant hole that had been revealed between a few trees.

"Griffin" she said as she neared the hole. She saw his hand reach up as he tried to climb out of the hole. She rushed to help him. "What were you thinking?" she asked as she grabbed his hand to help him up. Hatter was right behind her and helped Griffin more than Abby did.

"I figured I should help Princey." He said. Before he'd even finished talking, Abby had thrown her arms around him and pulled him to her in a hug. He groaned in pain because of her arms pressing against his wounds. "W-what're you doing?" he asked, holding his arms up awkwardly.

"Yeah, what are you doing?" Hatter asked.

"Don't do anything like that again. I thought that thing was going to kill you." She said. Griffin took a few shallow breaths and then Abby felt his arms around her.

"A-hem, shouldn't we be going before that thing comes back?" Cillian asked.

"Yeah…yeah." Griffin said, pushing Abby away gently. "We'll have more time to talk and whatnot later, when we're out of this area of the forest." He added. Hatter nodded and then started walking again. Abby, Griffin, and Cillian followed in silence. Cillian was behind Griffin and Abby. Abby couldn't help feeling that he was watching them.

They managed to get out of the Jabberwock's territory and back into the denser area of the forest fairly soon all things considered. However, the sun was setting by the time they did. "We should stop for the night." Hatter said. The rest of them nodded. Abby was starting to get hungry, but didn't want to say anything. They had all laid down to rest in a line with Hatter between Abby and the two boys. However, at some point before Abby had fully fallen asleep, Griffin quietly made his way over to her and tapped on her shoulder. He motioned for her to follow him away from the others. She glanced at Hatter and saw that he was already asleep.

She followed Griffin as quietly as she could. "Griffin?" she asked after they were a fair distance from the others.

"Yeah, I…well, I think we should talk." He said.

"I do, too." She said.

"Why did you chase after the Jabberwock when I was leading it away?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"You were right there when I was climbing out of the trap. You couldn't have gotten there so quickly if you hadn't been following me. Why did you do it?" he asked.

"I…you're only here because of me. I couldn't just let it kill you." She said.

"It wasn't going to kill me. I knew what I was doing just like your father knew what he was doing." Griffin replied.

"I didn't know that. I just didn't want you to die." She said. "Why don't you want to come to my world?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Like I said, this is my home." He said.

"You've been a fugitive living off of berries and stolen bread in the woods." She replied.

"So?" he asked.

"There's nothing here for you." She said.

"It's still my home." He said.

"Come with us." She said.

"Why do you want me to? Princey will be going back with you."

"So?"

"So, you don't need me." He said.

"Griffin…"

"Why did you follow the Jabberwock? Why did you hug me?" he asked. Abby started blushing.

"I just…I was really glad you were okay. And I already told you, I didn't want you to be hurt because of me." She said. "Why are you even here if you don't want go through the rabbit hole?" she asked.

"I want to make sure you get home safely." He said.

"Hatter and Cillian could keep me safe." Abby said.

"Cillian just protects himself. You probably would have been eaten by the Jabberwock if I hadn't been there to pull you away." He said.

"Hatter's still here. He would keep me safe. After all, I'm his daughter." She replied.

"I don't want to leave that to chance." Griffin replied.

"Why not?" Abby asked. She had a feeling that she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear him say it.

"Abby, I…we need to get to sleep." He said.

"No. Please tell me the truth." She said.

"I care about you. I want to keep you safe because I care about you." He replied. "I'm jealous of Princey because I care about you and I'm staying here because I care about you." He added.

"Why are you jealous of Cillian?" she asked, also confused by his last statement.

"He kissed you, Abby. And I'd be crazy to think that you'd want anything less than a Prince." He said.

"Why would I want Cillian? You do realize that I didn't kiss him back and that he only did that to try to push me through the mirror, right? I don't have feelings for him and he doesn't have feelings for me." She said.

"Yes, he does." Griffin replied.

Abby laughed. "Right, well, I still don't have feelings for him." She said.

"Why does it matter so much to you that I don't want to come with you to your world?" he asked.

"You tell me why you're really staying here, first." She said.

Griffin sighed. "I'm trying to give you what you want. Now, answer the question." He said.

"I…care about you, too. I want you to come with us because I care about you." She said, looking down at the ground until Griffin reached out and lifted her chin so that she was looking at him again.

"If you really want me to, I'll come with. But I don't want to hold you back." He said.

"I do want you to come with. I don't want to never see you again." She said.

"Okay. Hatter's going to be pissed." He said.

"Why?" Abby asked.

"Because, no father likes it when a boy is interested in their daughter." He said as he walked past her, heading back to the others.

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><p>Author's note: Again, sorry about the long wait. I'll try to get more chapters out soon. Please review. I love to hear positive and negative feedback as both help me to grow as a writer.<p>

Kelleyj: Sorry for the long wait, I hope that you enjoy this chapter, though.


	13. Chapter 12 - Home Again?

Disclaimer: I own Abby, Cillian, and Griffin and nothing else.

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><p>Morning came far too quickly. Abby hadn't gotten a decent night's sleep since she got to Wonderland. Even though she was lying on the forest floor and she was pretty sure that her clothes were now caked with mud, she did not want to get up. Hatter, though, insisted that they needed to get going if they wanted to get her home that day.<p>

"Arh, okay okay…" she said groggily as she slowly got to her feet. Everyone else was already awake and moving around. "Okay, so what's the plan?" she asked. Hatter looked at her with confusion. "Oh, you know, I'm sure that something's going to stop us from getting to the rabbit hole. What's the plan?" she asked.

"The plan is just to get to the rabbit hole." Hatter replied.

"So, we're not preparing for anyone to try to stop us?" she asked.

"No one will try to stop us. Hardly anyone knows where it is." Hatter said.

"What if the King knows where it is?" she asked.

Hatter shook his head. "Let's just get going" he said.

Abby sighed, sure that she was just a bit nervous about going home because it was finally happening. She just had a feeling that something was going to go wrong. That feeling didn't go away as they started walking after a short breakfast of berries. They walked for a while and Abby's feeling just kept getting worse.

She started to hear some rushing water. It sounded distant, but as they walked it got louder. "Are we going to a river or something?" she asked.

"Remember, I told you that the rabbit hole is by a waterfall." Griffin replied. It was the first thing he'd said to her all morning. She hadn't even noticed because she was too busy wondering what her bad feeling was about. It wasn't too long before the stream came into sight. From that point, they followed the stream until the trees parted to reveal a steep cliff.

"It should be somewhere around here, right?" she asked. Both Hatter and Griffin nodded, but neither of them seemed necessarily happy. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"The rabbit hole is around here somewhere." Hatter said. "We just have to find it." He added.

"You haven't actually been to it?" Abby asked.

"It's been a long time since I've been in this neck of the woods." Griffin said.

"The last time I came looking for the rabbit hole, I didn't get a chance to go through it." Hatter said.

"So, do we know where it is exactly?" she asked.

"It's around here. We just have to find it." Griffin said while he looked around, trying to find the rabbit hole. Suddenly, a surprised shout sounded and everyone turned to see what made it.

It had come from Cillian. "I think I found it." He said. When Abby looked in his direction, at first she didn't see anything. Then she realized that he had almost completely fallen into the hole. "I could get some help." He said, holding onto the ground and struggling to get back up.

"Just drop down, you'll be fine and we'll come after you." Griffin said.

"I don't know how deep this hole is." Cillian replied.

"Trust me, you won't be hurt. Just drop down and make sure there's room for us." Hatter replied. Cillian grimaced briefly, knowing that no one was going to help him. Finally, he let go and dropped into the hole. Once he dropped, Abby realized why no one had been able to find the hole. It didn't even look like there was a hole. The entrance simply looked like a patch of dirt just like it's surroundings.

"Come on down." Cillian shouted and Abby walked over to where the hole was with Hatter and Griffin at her sides.

"I'll go down first, then Abby, and then you Griffin." Hatter said. Abby was about to say something when he hopped into the hole. A moment later he shouted a short, "Okay." Abby took a deep breath and then followed. She fell about ten feet, but seemed to slow as she dropped and touched the ground gently. It was very dark in the rabbit hole, but she stepped forward and shouted for Griffin to join them.

When he did, Abby looked around. "It's really dark in here. Anyone have any idea of how we might go about seeing so that we know where we're going?" she asked, figuring that it would probably get darker the farther they went into the hole. Griffin and Hatter looked around, but Cillian was the one to find a torch which Griffin quickly lit.

They started to head down the hole which was much more of a tunnel than a hole in silence. After at least a half an hour of walking, Abby noticed that there weren't any turns or offshoots to the tunnel.

"Why are there no turns or forks?" she asked.

"The rabbit hole directly links our worlds. Each rabbit hole in our world links to one and only one hole in your world. There is no reason for there to be any turns or forks." Hatter replied. Meanwhile, Griffin nodded along with what Hatter said.

"There are twelve of them total, but they are very difficult to find because of the various illusions that hide them. Generally, when people know where one is, they only know about it because someone else has told them where it is." Griffin added.

"Who told you two where this one was?" Abby asked.

"My father" Griffin said.

"What about you, Hatter?" Cillian asked while Abby now wondered about who Griffin's parents were.

"I found out from Dodo. He was one of my resistance contacts back in the day. This was one of the places where they would send some of our people through to your world. When things got really bad, small groups of refugees would be smuggled through so that your world wouldn't notice and that we wouldn't be caught. I never did actually get to bring anyone, but was informed in case the need arose." He explained.

Griffin remained silent after Hatter's explanation. Abby wanted to ask him about his parents, but one look at him told her to stay away from the topic. He had a sour expression on his face and had since he'd answered her question. The group walked in silence again for a long while.

"How much longer do you think we have to go?" Abby asked, starting to feel a bit claustrophobic as the time went on.

"It shouldn't be much farther." Griffin said. That was the last thing said for, what Abby assume was, about another hour. She was about to ask again how long the trip was going to be when she saw a bit of a glow ahead. It had to be the end of the hole, her world.

"Okay, now I have another question. How are we going to get out of here?" she asked.

"No idea" Griffin replied.

"I assume we'll climb." Hatter said.

He was correct. When they reached the end of the tunnel, they sent Griffin up first. He climbed up the dirt wall quickly and easily as if he was assisted in some way. Abby was sent up next. Her ascent confirmed her theory that there was some assistance for getting out of the hole. It seemed similar to how slowly they fell when getting down into the hole. It almost seemed as if she was weightless as she climbed up into her world. Griffin helped her once she reached the surface and pulled her up the rest of the way.

Abby looked around as the other two climbed as well. They were in a forest of some kind. "Ugh, more trees. Why are there more trees?" she asked, wishing that she were back in the city. She was never too fond of nature. Once the other two were firmly standing on the ground beside her, she turned. "We have to find civilization." She said starting to walk away.

"Wait, we should make a trail." Cillian said.

"Why?" Griffin asked, having started to follow Abby.

"In case we need to come back." Cillian replied.

"Why would we need to come back?" Abby asked.

"There are twelve rabbit holes, right? Each one leads to a different place." He said.

"Your point?" Abby asked.

"What if we're nowhere near your home? What if we need to find a different rabbit hole that might take us closer to where you live?" Cillian asked.

"Fine, what would you suggest?" Abby asked.

"Why not mark the trees?" Griffin asked, pulling out his knife.

Abby nodded. "Okay, good idea." She said. They then started off with Griffin slashing an 'X' in every few trees. Soon, Abby heard the sound of traffic. She rushed toward the sound with Cillian running after her, shouting for her to slow down so that Griffin could keep up. However, she didn't slow down. She came upon a highway. "Where there's a highway, there are road signs." She said as Cillian caught up to her. She was about to head down the road when Cillian convinced her to wait. When Hatter and Griffin caught up, they started walking again. However, there was one thing that Abby noticed that was strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was at first.

That was when she realized what was wrong. The cars were on the wrong sides of the highway. All of the drivers were on the left side of the road. "Oh no, no no no" she said.

"What's wrong?" Griffin asked.

"We're on the wrong continent" Abby said.

"The wrong what?" Cillian asked.

"My world has giant landmasses that we call continents that are separated by oceans. We're on the wrong one." Abby said.

"There's still a way to get to your home, isn't there?" Griffin asked.

"Yes, if we had money and passports." Abby replied.

"What?" Cillian asked.

"Bits of paper." Hatter replied.

"We need to go back, to find another rabbit hole." Abby said.

"That might be a bit of a problem." Griffin said.

"Why? You marked the trail." Abby said.

"It'll probably be difficult to find the trail. When you ran off, I didn't end up marking many of the trees because Hatter and I didn't want to lose track of you." He said.

"We'll make this work, Abby. We'll get back to Alice." Hatter replied. "What about phones?" he asked.

"We would need money to call her. I don't have a cell phone and even if I did, it wouldn't work here. At least not very well." Abby replied. It was then that a car pulled off to the side of the road. The driver opened the door and called to them.

"Do you need help?" he shouted. He was older, probably mid 50's. He was also clearly surprised when Abby responded in an American accent.

"We're a bit lost and don't have any phones or money. Is there any way we might be able to borrow a phone?" she asked. She didn't think, though, that he would be very forthcoming with a phone or that calling her mother would solve any problems.

"I don't have a phone, but I could drive you to town." He said. Abby looked at her companions and nodded.

"We would appreciate that." She said.

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><p>Author's note: Sorry for the long delay and the shortness of the chapter. Apparently, my muse has left me high and dry for the time being. However, I wanted to get something out before my new semester starts. Please tell me what you think. Good, bad and everything between is appreciated as all criticism will help me to become a better writer.<p>

LadyEliseNicoleKatherine: I'm glad you liked the chapter and I hope you like this one as well.

Kelleyj: Thank you very much for your reply and I hope this chapter was just as enjoyable as the last, even though it is much shorter.


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